An Investigation on the Properties of PLA or TPU Polymeric Blend System as a 3D Printable Material

Smart polymer additive manufacturing is a new area of study because of the way these materials structures react to outside stimuli. Shape memory polymers have been printed using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) machines using 3D printing concept. Feedstock for FFF machines is commercially available filament. In order to assess their effects on the mechanical qualities, blends of polylactic acid and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) with varied composition ratios were produced using different printing conditions. Research has been carried out on the effects of processing parameters like infill percentage on mechanical behavior of PLA/TPU blends. The results showed that decreasing in TPU blend percentage enhanced the elastic modulus, while increasing the infill percentage tended to greatly increase the tensile strength and elastic modulus. Increasing the infill percentage proved the notable effect of elastic modulus in the 3D printed parts. According to the results obtained, the strain values increased as the infill percentage increased. Overall mechanical studies showed that the composite with 25% TPU was tougher than the clean PLA and could be printed similarly to PLA without losing its properties’.