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. 2022 Sep 23;14(19):3976.
doi: 10.3390/polym14193976.

Tensile Behavior of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) Based Composites Reinforced with Natural Fiber

Eliana M Agaliotis  1   2 , Baltazar D Ake-Concha  3 , Alejandro May-Pat  3 , Juan P Morales-Arias  4 , Celina Bernal  1   2 , Alex Valadez-Gonzalez  3 , Pedro J Herrera-Franco  3 , Gwénaëlle Proust  5   6 , J Francisco Koh-Dzul  3 , Jose G Carrillo  3 , Emmanuel A Flores-Johnson  7   8
Affiliations

Tensile Behavior of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) Based Composites Reinforced with Natural Fiber

Eliana M Agaliotis et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Natural fiber-reinforced composite (NFRC) filaments for 3D printing were fabricated using polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with 1-5 wt% henequen flour comprising particles with sizes between 90-250 μm. The flour was obtained from natural henequen fibers. NFRCs and pristine PLA specimens were printed with a 0° raster angle for tension tests. The results showed that the NFRCs' measured density, porosity, and degree of crystallinity increased with flour content. The tensile tests showed that the NFRC Young's modulus was lower than that of the printed pristine PLA. For 1 wt% flour content, the NFRCs' maximum stress and strain to failure were higher than those of the printed PLA, which was attributed to the henequen fibers acting as reinforcement and delaying crack growth. However, for 2 wt% and higher flour contents, the NFRCs' maximum stress was lower than that of the printed PLA. Microscopic characterization after testing showed an increase in voids and defects, with the increase in flour content attributed to particle agglomeration. For 1 wt% flour content, the NFRCs were also printed with raster angles of ±45° and 90° for comparison; the highest tensile properties were obtained with a 0° raster angle. Finally, adding 3 wt% content of maleic anhydride to the NFRC with 1 wt% flour content slightly increased the maximum stress. The results presented herein warrant further research to fully understand the mechanical properties of printed NFRCs made of PLA reinforced with natural henequen fibers.

Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; henequen fiber; mechanical property; natural fiber; natural fiber reinforced composite (NFRC); polylactic acid (PLA).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) henequen fibers; (b) henequen fiber flour.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Extrusion process of the NFRC filaments; (b) PLA/henequen filament with a fiber flour content of 3 wt%.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) 3D printer; (b) 3D printed NFRC tensile samples with a raster angle of 0°; (c) 3D printed NFRC tensile samples with raster angles of 0°, ±45° and 90° and with a fiber flour content of 1%.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Weight percentage of the particle sizes of the henequen flour; (b) SEM image of the henequen flour particles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
SEM image of the voids formed during the printing process of PLA.
Figure 6
Figure 6
DSC heating curves of 3D printed PLA and NFRC specimens.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Average tensile stress–strain curves of 3D printed PLA and NFRCs with different contents of henequen flour.
Figure 8
Figure 8
SEM images of the fracture surfaces after tensile testing of the 3D printed NFRCs: (a) PLA/H1; (b) PLA/H1 (close-up view); (c) PLA/H1 (close-up view); (d) PLA/H2; (e) PLA/H3; (f) PLA/H4; (g) PLA/H5; (h) PLA/H5 (close-up view); (i) PLA/H5 (close-up view).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Average tensile stress–strain curves of 3D printed P_PLA and PLA/H1_MA specimens, and PLA/H1 specimens printed with raster angles of 0°, ±45°, and 90°.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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