Effect of Infill Pattern and Lattice Structure on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Metal Polylactide Filament

Abstract

The purpose of this given research is to study the mechanical properties of the printed metal polylactide filament due to the recent growth of 3D printing technology. It had been widely used in many industries, but some consequences influence the material properties of printed parts and cause anisotropy. The consequences mentioned are based on parameters that have been involved in causing changes in the mechanical properties of the printed specimen such as the infill pattern, infill density, printing temperature, surrounding temperature, printing orientation, and printing speed. This paper will emphasize more on the infill patterns and choosing the better infill pattern for a printed material using copper metal polylactide (PLA) filament in terms of better strength. The strength of the printed material can be analysed using the tensile test method according to ASTM D68-10 standards. so that Young's Modulus can be evaluated based on stress and strain data collected from each specimen that has been tested. This experiment is conducted twice using PLA and copper metal PLA whereby the PLA is used as a comparison towards copper metal PLA. Based on previous studies shows honeycomb has the strongest infill pattern but after running through the certain test it is found out that grid pattern has the qualities for FDM processes which will be discussed further.