Surface plastic flow of 3D printed PLA in tribological study of surface patterned polymer
Abstract The potential of three-dimensional (3D) printing in polymer tribology is poorly explored. Material alignment and composition plays a vital role in altering the friction and wear characteristics of 3D printed materials. In the current study 3D patterns using fused deposition modeling are used to print advanced tribo-composites. Two different surface patterns (line and circular) are provided through 3D printing using white and silver Poly Lactic Acid (PLA). The deformation and the distribution of white and silver PLA over the samples surface are observed after the wear test. Results showed that the coefficient of friction is not being influenced by changing in the surface pattern. However, the wear rate increased for samples with line patterns on the contact surface, since the plastic flow was more significant in this case. Moreover, the filling factor exhibited an influence on increasing the plastic flow of the contact surface in case of the samples with line pattern.