Effects of building parameters on mechanical and surface properties of 3D printed bioplastic (PLA) using TOPSIS: an experimental study

Additive manufacturing is becoming an emerging technology in manufacturing three-dimensional (3D) components in a layer-by-layer printing fashion. The technology enables wide variety of materials to be printed for different applications starting from automotive, aerospace, marine and to the biomedical fields. 3D printing processes are majorly used to print polymeric materials compared to metallic materials. Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most commonly used material by the fused deposition modelling technique, which accounts for multiple applications. The present study investigates the effect of printing parameters such as infill density, wall thickness, printing speed and ironing to identify optimum process parameter combination for better mechanical performance. Based on the design of experiments, 40 samples were printed and measured for mechanical characteristics. Upon the analysis using TOPSIS, at the parameter combination of infill density (99%), wall thickness (3 mm), and printing speed (150 mm/hr), the printed specimens showed higher tensile strength of 10.20 MPa and comparatively good surface finish. Hence, the parameter optimisation showed a positive influence on enhancing the mechanical properties of printed components.