Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of Alumina Reinforced Polylactic Acid Polymer Composite
J. Environ. Nanotechnol., Volume 15, No 1 (March 2026) pp. 296-306
Abstract
The introduction of additive manufacturing in the industry represents a significant technological advancement. Material innovations and updated printing methods have paved the way for enhancing the strength of fused deposition modeling (FDM) parts. While fully polylactic acid (PLA)-printed FDM parts exhibit minimal strength, sandwiched samples demonstrate significantly higher strength. Among the sandwiched samples (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%), the 80% sandwich configuration achieved a tensile strength of 34.7 MPa, which is 18.3% higher than that of pure polylactic acid (PLA). This improvement is attributed to the alternating layers of PLA and reinforced composite material. In terms of flexural strength, the 40% sandwich reinforcement showed a 2.42% increase compared to pure PLA, indicating an optimal reinforcement level for flexural applications. Additionally, the impact strength of the 20% sandwich configuration improved by 20% over neat PLA. These enhancements result from the strategic placement of reinforced layers between PLA layers, where the reinforcing particles penetrate the base material and create strong bonding with the PLA matrix. These findings highlight that incorporating reinforced sandwich layers between PLA significantly improves the mechanical properties of FDM-printed parts while reducing the overall requirement for composite material. This approach offers a cost-effective and efficient method for achieving superior strength in additive manufacturing.
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Reference
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