EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTIVE PARAMETERS ON TENSILE STRENGTH OF 3D-PRINTED PLA-GRAPHITE COMPOSITE

In recent years, polymers, metals, ceramics and other consumables used in 3D printing are often being replaced with composites. This allows for the enhancement of mechanical and other key properties of manufactured products. The focus of this study is to investigate the effects that the orientation and thickness of the layers of printed specimens fabricated from composite monofilament based on PLA+ with a 5% content of layered graphite have on the ultimate tensile strength of the printed specimens. The specimens, developed in accordance with the ISO 527-2:2012 standard, were printed by fused deposition modelling at different orientation angles (0 degrees, 15 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees,75 degrees, 90 degrees) and with three layer thicknesses (0,1 mm, 0,2 mm, 0,3 mm) for each angle. Strength was predicted using the Hill-Tsai anisotropic yield criterion. The comparison of results demonstrated a good correlation between analytical calculations and test data. The effect of the angle orientation and print layer thickness on the ultimate tensile strength of fabricated components was examined.