Investigation on impact strength of 3D printed PLA: effect of part orientation, infill pattern and infill percentage

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is an extensively adapted 3D printing process owing to its ease of operation and low cost. In the present work, the FDM technique was used to examine effect of the processing parameters on the impact strength of FDM manufactured polylactic acid (PLA) material. Test specimens were printed while varying build parameters, including infill pattern, part orientation and infill density. The prepared parts were subjected to Izod impact test to determine the impact properties. It is observed that specimens printed in X orientation usually displayed better impact properties than the specimen oriented in the Z orientation. The rectilinear pattern and higher infill density displayed higher impact strength. Furthermore, SEM analysis on the specimen's fractured surface was done to evaluate the impact of build conditions on the failure mechanism of samples.