Assessment on the influence of FDM process parameters on the mechanical properties of PLA samples

Abstract The manufacturing of functional parts from the fused deposition modeling 3D printer is limited due to poor mechanical properties, low surface finish, and huge production time. During 3D printing of prototypes, the time consumption of printing and mechanical properties of the model is directly proportional. The fused deposition modeling process parameters significantly impact the quality of printed parts. The prime objective of this research is to optimize the process parameters of a 3D printing machine (wall thickness, infill percentage, infill pattern, and infill speed) using polylactic acid material to enhance the mechanical properties with less printing time of the 3D printing model. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the 3D printed samples are used to evaluate the mechanical properties of the various slicing process parameters as per the standards. From the results, it is evident that the mechanical properties of the 3D printed materials increased significantly. The magnitude of ultimate tensile strength is reported as 39.972 MPa with a printing time of 28 min. From close observation, it is evident that lower infill speeds with gyroid infill pattern produce the highest ultimate tensile strength of all combinations. Also, optimal results are derived at higher wall thickness and higher infill percentage. In addition to that, finite element analysis was carried out for different infill percentages of the specimen to validate the actual result.