Experimental and numerical study on additively fabricated sustainable multi layer material

Growing interest in biodegradable and sustainable materials has encouraged the development of sustainable material structure with optimized structural performance. This research investigates stress concentration factor (SCF) and mechanical behaviour of a novel sustainable multilayer material composed of polylactic acid (PLA), referred as Material-1 and wood polymer, referred as Material-2, fabricated using fused deposition modelling (FDM). The sequential deposition of Material-1 and Material-2 was adopted to establish strong interfacial bonding and enhance load distribution efficiency. Tensile evaluation was carried out using open hole tensile (OHT) method for sustainable multi-layer material and its base polymers. Outcomes were verified through finite element analysis (FEA) and results revealed that Material-1 displayed superior tensile performance (25.00 MPa) and lowest stress concentration, while Material-2 exhibited reduced strength (16.95 MPa) with peak SCF values due to its inherent brittleness. Mechanical properties of Material-1/Material-2 was observed with tensile strength of 19.41 MPa and 2.32% elongation, intermediate between Material-1 and Material-2. Experimental and simulated observations exhibited a high degree of agreement, maintaining percentage deviations below 3.2%, confirming the reliability of model. Sustainable multilayer material demonstrated balanced mechanical behaviour, combining improved stiffness, stable stress distribution, and eco-friendly potential. The outcomes support the suitability of this material for lightweight and sustainable engineering application, serving as effective substitutes for traditional metals.