Mechanical Strength of 3-D Printed Filaments

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers are becoming more frequent in everyday use. These types of 3D printers are extremely useful for rapid prototyping. Fused deposition modeling printing melts the printing material and extrudes it through a nozzle. The material is laid out in a layer by layer fashion until the object is completed printing. Two common types of filament used in FDM printing are Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Some properties that can change the strength of 3D printed piece are things such as infill percentage, layer height, print orientation, extruding temperature, and build speed to name a few. Infill percentage and print orientation were tested to determine the mechanical strength of the material. The infill percentage varied from 20%-100% by increments of 20%. The goal of this project was to analyze the mechanical strength of PLA being printed in various orientations and infill percentages.