AccScience Publishing / MSAM / Volume 3 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.36922/msam.2672
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhancing interlaminar adhesion in multi-material 3D printing: A study of conductive PLA and TPU interfaces through fused filament fabrication

Guo Liang Goh1,2 ,  Samuel Lee1 ,  Shi Hui Cheng1 ,  Daniel Jee Seng Goh1 ,  Pothunuri Laya2 ,  Van Pho Nguyen1,3 ,  Boon Siew Han3 ,  Wai Yee Yeong1,2*
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1 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2 Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
3 Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
MSAM 2024, 3(1), 2672 https://doi.org/10.36922/msam.2672
Submitted: 8 January 2024 | Accepted: 2 February 2024 | Published: 27 February 2024
© 2024 by the Author (s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

In the rapidly expanding field of additive manufacturing, multi-material fused filament fabrication represents a frontier with vast potential for creating composite structures that blend the benefits of different material properties. Interlaminar adhesion between dissimilar materials remains a challenge for the realization of multifunctional structure for practical use. This study investigates the interlaminar adhesion between conductive polylactic acid and thermoplastic polyurethane, materials representative of rigid and flexible characteristics, respectively. We present a comparative analysis of two adhesion enhancement approaches: the incorporation of mechanical interlocking features and the modification of surface roughness at the interface. Through tensile testing, we evaluate the effectiveness of these methods against a benchmark coupon with unmodified interface. Micro-computed tomography analysis, surface morphology analysis, and mechanical performance assessments elucidate the failure modes and provide insights into the interfacial behavior of these interface designs. We found that the interface design with top infill modification showed the highest interlaminar adhesion strength, with an improvement of at least 25% compared to the benchmark coupon. Our findings aim to inform the design and manufacturing practices in multi-material 3D printing and to open new avenues for the development of multifunctional, composite 3D-printed systems.

Keywords
3D printing
Additive manufacturing
Multi-material
Polymer
Composite material
Adhesion
Interface
Funding
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under its IAF-ICP Program I2001E0067 and the Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research at NTU and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Medium-Sized Center funding scheme.
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Materials Science in Additive Manufacturing, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9635 Published by AccScience Publishing
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