Fused Filament Fabrication of Natural PLA and PLA-Aluminum Composite
Author(s):
Nor Ana Rosli†, Mohd Rizal Alkahari†, ‡*, Hiyam Adil Habeeb†,††,
Shajahan Maidin††, ‡‡, Faiz Redza Ramli†, Safarudin Gazali Herawan†‡
Affiliation(s):
†Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
‡Advanced Manufacturing Center, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
††Middle Euphrates University / AL –Mussaib Technical College, Babel, Iraq
‡‡Fakulti Kejuruteraan Pembuatan, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
†‡Industrial Engineering Department, Fakulti Kejuruteraan, Universitas Bina Nusantara, Jakarta, 11430 Indonesia
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The open-source technology-based additive manufacturing technique is a cost-effective method that is notable for facilitating manufacture and assembly while being easy to operate. However, the fabricated sample is experiencing technical limitations, which is compromising the quality of the parts, including surface roughness and mechanical properties. This study aims to compare the effect of layer height on the surface roughness, microstructure and mechanical properties of natural PLA and PLA-Al composite specimen. The fabricated specimens’ dimension is following the ASTM D683 standard. Generally, it was found that the 3D printed natural PLA has better properties compared to the PLA-Al composite in terms of tensile strength and surface roughness. Further assessment was carried out on microstructure revealed the porosity exhibited in PLA-Al composite specimens is lesser than the natural PLA specimen. Although less porosity is produced in the PLA-Al composite specimen, this did not allow for more superior properties than natural PLA in term of tensile strength.