AccScience Publishing / MSAM / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/MSAM026190041
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Mechanical degradation of bio-based FDM filaments under thermal ageing and moisture exposure: PLA, PETG, and PLA-Wood comparison

Md Ashequl Islam1 Khairul Salleh Basaruddin1* Liyana Tajul1 Nor Amalina Muhayudin1 Hoang Tien-Dat2 Hoang Tien Dung2 Giulio Mattera3
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1 Mechanical Department, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia
2 School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Ha Noi University of Industry, Hanoi, Vietnam
3 Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Campania, Italy
Received: 6 May 2026 | Revised: 26 June 2026 | Accepted: 29 June 2026 | Published online: 24 July 2026
© 2026 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/ )
Abstract

Thermoplastic filaments used in fused deposition modelling (FDM) are increasingly adopted for functional components, yet their durability under thermal and moisture-related service conditions remains incompletely characterised. This study presents a multi-modal investigation of the mechanical degradation of three commercial FDM filaments, namely polylactic acid (PLA), polyethene terephthalate glycol (PETG), and wood-filled PLA (PLA-Wood), subjected to two independent degradation pathways: accelerated isothermal thermal ageing at material-relevant glass-transition temperatures for four and eight days, and immersion in distilled water for 24–720 h. Specimens were fabricated according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D638, ASTM D790, and ASTM D695 standards using 70% concentric infill, then evaluated through tensile, flexural, and compressive testing, gravimetric mass and moisture analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Under thermal ageing, PETG exhibited the highest tensile strength retention, maintaining 40.87 ± 1.18 MPa after eight days, with the smallest proportional tensile modulus reduction of ≤ 5.1%. PLA-Wood sustained the greatest compressive modulus loss of 15.6%, attributed to combined PLA matrix chain scission and hygroscopic wood-filler desorption. Under moisture exposure, PETG maintained stable wet-state tensile strengths of 24.38–25.60 MPa after initial conditioning, whereas PLA-Wood absorbed approximately 50% apparent moisture in compression specimens and suffered a 57% flexural strength reduction. PLA showed transient increases in stiffness associated with secondary crystallisation before degradation. SEM confirmed distinct material–stressor degradation pathways. These results establish the first integrated dual-stressor degradation profile for this filament triad, providing quantitative selection criteria for FDM applications involving thermal or humid service environments.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Fused deposition modelling
Polylactic acid
Polyethene terephthalate glycol
Polylactic acid-Wood
Thermal ageing
Moisture absorption
Additive manufacturing
Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from UniMAP and HaUI under the International Research Fund (INTERES) matching grant with the grant number 9008-00104.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Materials Science in Additive Manufacturing, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9635 Published by AccScience Publishing