Influence of infill density and printing pattern on flexural properties of 3D printed short carbon fiber PLA composite

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is one of the advanced Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques that enables the production of complex geometric components from thermoplastic materials. The use of the FDM process in the production of composite parts reduces the production cycle time and manufacturing costs. Since the properties of components fabricated by this method depend on the process parameters, investigating of process parameters and their various effects on the properties of manufactured parts are so necessary. In the present study, the effect of two process parameters including printing pattern and infill density on flexural properties, flexural strength-to-weight, and flexural strength-to-time ratios of FDM fabricated parts have been studied. The investigation is carried out on carbon fiber reinforced Polylactic acid (SCF/PLA) composite. The results indicated that the infill density compared to the printing pattern had a more significant effect on the flexural strength, weight, and build time of fabricated parts. However, considering the flexural strength-to-weight ratio, which is an important factor in the production of the composite parts as a desirable output, the printing pattern plays a more important role than the infill density.