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Compressive Properties of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid

Matrix Composites Reinforced by Short Fibers and
SiC Nanowires
Hui Mei,* Xiaokang Yin, Jiongjiong Zhang, and Wenyu Zhao

consequence, it has been successfully ap-

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) as a rapidly growing additive manufactur- plied to several industries, such as aero-
ing technology is successfully applied to several industries. In this study, space,[9] automotive,[10] architecture,[11] and
effects of printing layer thickness, reinforcement types, and silicon carbide biomedical industries.[12] Therefore, FDM
can flexibly use different materials including
nanowire (SiCnw) brushing layers on compressive properties are investigated
thermoplastics,[13] carbon nanotubes,[14]
by comparing the strength and modulus of the FDM specimens acquired fibers,[15] metal powders,[16] cellulose,[17]
from compression tests. First of all, the printing layer thickness determines and ceramics[18] to prepare the composites,
the strength of the printed specimens, the pure polylactic acid (PLA), the PLA which make the 3D product more complex
reinforced by short carbon fiber (Cf/PLA), and the PLA reinforced by graphene and excellent performance.[13,19]
Until now, numerous studies have
(G/PLA). The results indicate that both strength and elastic modulus of the
emphasized the effects of build orientation
printed specimens increase with the decrease of the printing layer thickness. on aspects such as geometric accuracy,
Therefore, the effects of different reinforcement types on the mechanical surface quality of specimens and printing
properties are further investigated at the same printing layer thickness. It time.[20] The impact of build orientation on
indicates that the printed Cf/PLA receives the highest elastic modulus up to mechanical performance of FDM speci-
1.69 GPa due to the high modulus of carbon fiber. Finally, the SiCnw brushing mens have been previously studied.[21–23]
Another important parameter is layer
layers between the printed PLA layers are found to significantly increase the
thickness (Lt), which is also named as
compressive modulus and there is a growth of 55.1% from pure PLA to PLA printing accuracy. A large number of
with three SiCnw brushing layers. studies has proposed that the layer thick-
ness has a great impact on mechanical
performance of FDM specimens. Ran-
kouhi et al.[24] argue that layer thickness
should be further studied owing to the
1. Introduction disparity of results. Tymrak et al.[25] conclude that the lowest
thickness has the highest tensile strength for Lt ¼ {0.2, 0.4} mm.
Additive manufacturing (AM), or popularly known as three- Sood et al.[26] state that tensile strength decreases at first and then
dimensional (3D) printing technologies are becoming one of the increases with the increasing of layer thickness for Lt ¼ {0.127,
areas that have the prosperous development prospect in the 0.178, 0.254} mm. Nevertheless, Ahn et al.[22] infer that layer
manufacturing industry,[1–3] which have the unknown possibility thickness has a little impact on the mechanical properties of ABS
to build objects with complex shapes and realize the optimum specimens. Vaezi and Chua[27] state that for flat oriented
design.[4,5] Among the increasing number of AM approaches, one specimens, a decrease of layer thickness for Lt ¼ {0.1, 0.087} mm
of the most commonly used is fused deposition modeling increases the tensile strength and decreases flexural strength.
(FDM),[6] a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing technique, based Furthermore, through searching for the references, it can be
on computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided found that the effects of the brushing reinforcements into
manufacturing (CAM).[7,8] The technology has the advantages of printing layers on the mechanical performance of 3D printed
easy material change, low maintenance costs, supervision-free specimens have not yet been studied.
operation, compact size, and low working temperature, as a In this work, the effect of reinforcement types and the layer
thickness on the mechanical properties of polylactic acid (PLA)
specimens manufactured with a 3D printer device by using FDM
Prof. H. Mei, X. K. Yin, J. J. Zhang, W. Y. Zhao
technique are assessed. In addition, it is proposed that through
Science and Technology on Thermostructural Composite Materials
Laboratory brushing additional reinforcement emulsion, such as silicon
School of Materials Science and Engineering carbide nanowires (SiCnw), between the printing layers in the
Northwestern Polytechnical University printing process to improve resin matrix composites. Three
Xi’an Shaanxi 710072, P. R. China experimental parameters are designed to research the influence
E-mail: meihui@nwpu.edu.cn
on the mechanical properties of the printed composite, which
DOI: 10.1002/adem.201800539 include reinforcement types, the printing layer thickness, and

Adv. Eng. Mater. 2018, 1800539 1800539 (1 of 5) © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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the number of brushing layers afterwards. And the reinforce-
ments are SiCnw, graphene and carbon fibers (Cf), with PLA
acting as the fundamental material. Compression tests are
carried out to determine the mechanical response in terms of
strength and modulus of the printed specimens.
2. Experimental Section
2.1. Specimens Printed by Different Filaments with
Different Printing Layer Thickness
For the purpose of researching the influence of the printing layer
thickness and reinforcement on the compressive mechanical
properties of 3D printing specimens, three types of filaments
with diameter of 1.75 mm are selected as the 3D printing
supplies: pure PLA, PLA reinforced by short carbon fiber
(Cf/PLA), and PLA reinforced by graphene (G/PLA). And all of
these filaments are provided by Creality 3D Corp. in China, some
information is shown in Table 1. As shown in Figure 1,
specimens are designed as cylinder with diameter of 5 mm and
height of 12.5 mm, following the standard GBT-1041-92. These
specimens are printed by the FDM-based equipment with
0.4 mm nozzle from Flashforge Corp. in China. The printing
layer thickness is decided by the extrusion speed of the printing
nozzle, which are controlled by the software FlashPrint. The
printing layer thickness is designed as 0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm.
Three specimens with three kinds of layer thickness are printed
for each material, respectively. The printing temperature is
controlled at 200  C and the plate temperature is 50  C.
2.2. Specimens Printed by PLA with SiCnw Layers
Additionally, in order to study the effect of discontinuous
addition layers on the mechanical properties, PLA specimens
with different layers of SiCnw (length 30–50 nm) between the
printing PLA layers are printed, as shown in Figure 2. In this
manufacture course, emulsion of SiCnw (0.04 g) and alcohol
(20 mL) is prepared in advance. When the printer has just
finished one layer, the printing process is suspended and the
SiCnw emulsion is brushed on the printed layer. After alcohol has
volatilized at all, the next layer continues with SiCnw cocooned in
the interface of layers. In this way, five types of specimens are
printed with 1 layer of SiCnw, 2 layers, 3 layers, 4 layers, and 5
layers brushed uniformly in the interface on every 1/2, 1/3, 1/4,
1/5, 1/6 of specimen height. In this procedure, printing process
parameters are same and all specimens are printed using the
same emulsion, to control the procedure of adding SiCnw layer to
be revealed.
Table 1. Information of filaments PLA, Cf/PLA, and G/PLA.
Material Reinforcement content (wt. %) Selectable print temperature ( C)
PLA 0 180–210
Cf/PLA 5 190–220
G/PLA 2 200–220
Adv. Eng. Mater. 2018, 1800539
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2.3. Compression Tests
In order to investigate the compressive properties, five speci-
mens are printed for each test and compression tests are
conducted to all of the specimens above. The universal
compression tests are performed following the standard GBT-
1041-92. A CMT4303 universal testing machine with force
capacity 30 KN, which is provided by Sansi Taijie Corp. in China.
Tests are carried out at room temperature and the crosshead
speed is fixed at 1 mm min1. Compression stress–strain curves
are plotted, Figure 3 is the compression stress–strain curve of
pure PLA with 0.18 mm printing layer thickness. And yield
strength, compressive strength, and elastic modulus are
obtained, and average value is calculated for five specimens of
each test. In the Tests, compression process is stopped when the
stress–strain curve has just achieved compressive strength, then
specimen is unloaded and cut from the height intermediate
position, finally fracture morphology is taken by optical
microscope.
3. Results and Discussions
3.1. Effects of the Printing Layer Thickness on Compressive
Properties
The compressive properties of specimens with different printing
layer thickness are obtained from compression tests. Properties
of specimens from pure PLA with different printing layer
thickness (0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm) are compared to each other.
In Figure 4, it can be obviously found that all of yield strength,
compressive strength, and elastic modulus of specimens printed
by PLA increase with the decrease of the printing layer thickness.
As a consequence, during compression tests, the specimens
undergo pressure aligned in the height direction and the
adjacent layers bear the shear stress because of the additive build
up, which can cause the single layers to slide along one another
until the specimen finally breaks. However, the decrease of
printing layer thickness will increase the bonding area of layers
effectively with the reduction of bonding interface gaps, besides,
the inevitable gaps between spited wires are dispersed more
evenly, which can avoid layers bearing the shear stress. Figure 5
shows the fracture morphology of pure PLA specimens with
layer thickness 0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm. It can be seen that
Figure 1. Specimens printed by PLA, Cf/PLA, and G/PLA with dimensions
in millimeter.
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Figure 2. Specimens printed by PLA with one layer of SiCnw, two layers, three layers, four layers, and five layers with dimensions in millimeter.
scattered cracks are formed on the 0.18 mm specimen, because
more gaps as the crack source exist in the printing layers. When
the printing layer thickness changes from 0.14 to 0.08 mm,
cracks are focused on the center of the specimens because of the
decreases of gaps, and radiate outward, which increase plastic
deformation resistance, so the 0.08 mm specimens obtain the
maximum compressive strength (428.49 MPa).
Similarly, properties of Cf/PLA specimens are also compared
to each other, which is shown in Figure 6, it can been see that the
regularity represented by Cf/PLA specimens is similar to that of
pure PLA. While elastic modulus is improved heavily because of
the addition of high modulus of carbon fiber. However, when the
G/PLA specimens with different printing layer thickness are
compared, as shown in Figure 7, obvious regularity cannot be
found, yield strength only increases weakly with the decrease of
printing layer thickness, elastic modulus still attains the
maximum (1.58 GPa) when the printing layer thickness get
the minimum (0.08 mm).
3.2. Effects of the Reinforcement Types on Compressive
Properties
Properties of specimens with printing layer thickness of
0.08 mm from PLA, Cf/PLA, and G/PLA are selected to compare
to each other. As shown in the Figure 8, the yield strengths of
PLA and G/PLA are basically in the same, while the specimens
Figure 3. Compression stress–strain curve of pure PLA with 0.18 mm
printing layer thickness.
Adv. Eng. Mater. 2018, 1800539 1800539 (3 of 5)
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printed by G/PLA have a larger elastic modulus (1.58 GPa).
Although the Cf/PLA composite materials have the smallest yield
strengths, they also have the largest elastic modulus (1.69 GPa).
As known well, graphene is a two-dimensional structural
material, which has been the thinnest and hardest nanomaterial
until now.[28] Similarly, the microstructure of carbon fiber gives it
many excellent properties, including the large axial strength and
elastic modulus when keeping the density low.[15] The both kinds of
reinforcement have increased the elastic modulus of composite
materials because of the high modulus of them. In comparison,
the contents of carbon fiber (5 wt%) is larger than that of graphene
(2 wt%) in the composite materials, which can cause the specimen
larger elastic modulus, even if graphene has higher elastic
modulus (1100 GPa) than carbon fiber (230–430 GPa). Moreover,
the carbon fiber is not resistant to compression and the addition of
it can change the original structure of specimens. As a result, the
matrix cannot support the specimens effectively.[29] On the other
hand, as the possibility of agglomeration and defects of Cf/PLA
composite materials increases, the compression strength of them
decreases.
3.3. Effects of the SiCnw Brushing Layers on Compressive
Properties
In order to explore the effect of added layers on the mechanical
properties of the 3D printed material during the printing
Figure 4. Comparison on compressive properties of specimens printed
by PLA with printing layer thickness of 0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm.
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Figure 5. Fracture morphology of pure PLA specimens with printing thickness: a) 0.18 mm, b) 0.14 mm, and c) 0.08 mm.

Figure 6. Comparison on compressive properties of specimens printed Figure 7. Comparison on compressive properties of specimens printed
by Cf/PLA with printing layer thickness of 0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm. by G/PLA with printing layer thickness of 0.18, 0.14, and 0.08 mm.

process, 3D printing PLA with different SiCnw layers experiment
are designed, as shown in Figure 2. The yield strength and elastic
modulus of the 3D printed composite specimens with different
SiCnw layers inside PLA are shown in Figure 9. In Figure 9, it is
observed that the yield strength of pure PLA is the highest, and
with the increment of SiCnw layers, the yield strength of the 3D
printed specimens decreases gradually. It can be inferred that
with the continuous addition of SiCnw, the defects of the PLA
specimens increase, which makes the yield strength decrease
gradually.

Figure 8. Comparison on compressive properties of specimens printed Figure 9. Yield strength and elastic modulus of 3D printed PLA with
by PLA, Cf/PLA, and G/PLA. different SiCnw layers (1 layer to 5 layers).

Adv. Eng. Mater. 2018, 1800539 1800539 (4 of 5) © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Meanwhile, the elastic modulus of the 3D printed specimens
increases dramatically with the increment of SiCnw layers at first,
changing from 1.27 GPa of pure PLA to 1.97 GPa of PLA with
three layers of SiCnw (a growth of 55.1%), and then decreases
slightly to 1.72 GPa of PLA with five layers of SiCnw. It is inferred
the addition of SiCnw with high modulus (>500 GPa) is
beneficial to improve elasticity modulus of the specimen.
However, with the increase of the number of SiCnw, the existence
of defects will inhibit this increase of elasticity modulus, which
causes the increase of the modulus of elasticity is slowed down
gradually, even reduce after it reaches the peak value at 3 layers.
4. Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to investigate the effects of printing
layer thickness, the type of reinforcement in PLA filament
material and the number of additive SiCnw layers on the
mechanical compressive properties of 3D printed specimens.
From the main results, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1) Both of yield strength and elastic modulus of specimens
printed by PLA and Cf/PLA increase with the decrease of layer
thickness. Besides, when the layer thickness is design as the
minimum 0.08 mm, all of specimens printed by PLA, Cf/PLA,
and G/PLA have the best compressive mechanical properties.
2) For the effect of different reinforcements on the compressive
mechanical properties of materials, it is obviously seen that the
short carbon fiber can better improve the elastic modulus of
specimens and the graphene can better improve the yield
strength.
3) A suitable amount of SiCnw layers between the printing layers can
significantly increase the compressive elastic modulus of speci-
mens, however, along with slight reduction in the yield strength.
4) It is proved successful that PLA matrix composites reinforced
by SiC nanowires can be manufactured by brushing reinforce-
ments into printing layers of 3D printed specimens. So, more
reinforcements can be taken into consideration such as, carbon
nanotubes and graphene, to improve mechanical properties of
composites for the application on aerospace, automotive,
architecture, and biomedical industries.
Acknowledgements
This work had been financially supported by Natural Science Foundation of
China (51772246, 51272210, 50902112, and U1737209), Program for New
Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-13-0474), Fundamental
Research Funds for the Central Universities (3102017jg02001 and
3102018jcc002), National Program for Support of Top-notch Young
Professionals, and project of Peak experience programs of Northwestern
Polytechnical University. We also would like to thank the Analytical & Testing
Center of Northwestern Polytechnical University for mechanical Test.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Adv. Eng. Mater. 2018, 1800539 1800539 (5 of 5)
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Keywords
3D printing, compressive properties, fused deposition modeling,
polylactic acid matrix composites, SiC nanowires
Received: May 17, 2018
Revised: August 26, 2018
Published online:
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