Investigation of Fused Deposition Modelling Process Parameters in 3D Printing for Composite Material (Poly Lactic Acid and Banana Fibre)

Additive manufacturing is gaining popularity nowadays due to its applications in the automotive, medical, aerospace industries, and sports to manufacture complex parts. Fused deposition modelling is an additive manufacturing process utilised widely due to its lower cost, fast prototyping and faster production time. The present study focuses on applying FDM to the composite material filament and the impact of parameters of FDM on the part quality. A composite filament material was prepared to combine PLA (Poly-lactic Acid) and banana fibre. Specimens were prepared using this composite filament by varying various parameters such as layer thickness, infiltration and build orientation. Flexural and tensile tests were performed as per standards. It was found that the material properties considered are significantly affected by percentage infill and build orientation. The ‘on edge’ build orientation provides better material properties as compared to the other two orientations. The tensile strength is observed to be 73% and 77% more in flat orientation and ‘on edge’ orientation, respectively, as compared to upright orientation. Also, the flat orientation and ‘on edge’ orientation respectively showed 60% and 70% more flexural strength than the upright orientation.