HIGH COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH 3D PRINTED INFILL BASED ON STRUT-BASED LATTICE STRUCTURE

Abstract

In an attempt to make Additive Manufacturing more material-efficient, researchers come across the idea of re-enforcing 3D printed objects by infill pattern modification. In line with this concept, this paper introduces a new innovative infill pattern inspired by a variety of strut-base lattice structures that is stronger and more material-efficient than conventional 3D printing infill. This research provides the design, analysis, and experimental results of the developed 3D printed infills, then compared with a benchmark infill. Three (3) strut-based lattice test samples, namely Body-Centered Cubic (BCC), Face-Centered Cubic (FCC), and Octet-Truss, were designed and 3D printed with an equal amount of material used, then undergo compressive test on Universal Testing Machine. Results showed that BCC, FCC, and Octet-truss infill pattern print has a compressive strength of 11.25 MPa, 8.47 MPa, 7.44 MPa consecutively, while benchmark infill has 9.73 MPa. This data proves that with the same amount of material consumed, the BCC lattice structure infill withstands a compressive load higher than the benchmark infill, which is offered in a 3D printing slicer.