The Influence of Different Infill Structures on the Mechanical Properties in Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Besides the outer shell, it is the internal structures that contribute the most to the mechanical integrity of an additively manufactured component. In order to investigate the influence of the geometrically different internal structures and infill density on the Young’s modulus, tensile strength and failure strain, tensile specimens of polylactic Acid (PLA) were prepared using fused deposition modeling and tested at room temperature. There was a significant influence of the infill density, the manufacturing process and the resulting microstructure on the mechanical properties. In summary, the position of the microstructure relative to the load direction is found to be a significant factor of influence.