Study of the Effect of Pretreatment of 3D Printed PLA Filament Modified by Plasma Discharge and Changes in Its Dynamic-Mechanical Properties
Marcel Kohutiar, Róbert Janík, Michal Krbaťa, Lenka Bartošová, Milan Jus, Ľudmila Timárová
Abstract
The presented study focuses on the study of polylactide acid (PLA) material, which is a frequently used material in 3D printing. Surface modification using DCSBD plasma discharge is proposed as a way to improve the adhesion between individual layers of material. Adhesion is a critical factor for achieving high-quality print output, as low adhesion can cause individual deposited layers of material to separate and ripple during printing. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) is used to determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) of a material. Tg is important because it determines how difficult the material is to print, the closer the Tg is to room temperature, the easier the material is to print. How-ever, after printing a layer of material and subsequently cooling it to room temperature, the material begins to shrink and wave due to the change in material expansion. This can have a negative effect on the adhesion between the layers of the material, which can lead to separation of the layers. The presented study tries to find a way to improve the adhesion of individual layers of material. Surface modification by plasma discharge appears to be a promising method that could improve the adhesion between individual layers of PLA material.