The Effect of Infill Pattern on Tensile Strength of PLA Material in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Process

Abstract

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process often used to build geometrically complex prototypes and parts. It is becoming more popular since it improves products by eliminating the need for high-priced equipment. Materials, printing methods, and printing variables all impact the mechanical characteristics of printed items. The process parameters of FDM affect the parts' quality and functionality. This study examines the influence of different infill patterns on test specimens made of polylactic acid (PLA) tensile strength. Total of 10 different infill patterns (IPs): Grid, Lines, Triangles, Tri-Hexagon, Cubic, Gyroid, Zig-zag, Concentric, Octet, and Cubic subdivision were taken as process variables. Samples were printed using processing parameters (speed 60 mm/s, layer height 0.1 mm, infill density 80%, extruded at 200◦C). The ASTM D638 tensile test was used to determine the tensile strength based on this printing parameter. According to tensile test results, the infill pattern significantly affects the tensile strength. The results showed that the concentric infill pattern has a higher tensile strength of 32.174 MPa, whereas the triangles infill pattern has a lower tensile strength of 20.934 MPa.