Influence of Recycled Scrap Particles on Tensile Behavior of Additively Manufactured Polylactic Acid (PLA) Composites for Automotive Upholstery Applications

In the domain of Additive Manufacturing (AM), Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) hath flourished as a promising method for crafting complex geometric parts with a commendable degree of dimensional precision. The perception of recycling metal scrap particles obtained from machining operations unbound the scope of developing sustainable layered polymer composites with integral properties of metal particles. In this context, the present work is intended to investigate the tensile properties of Polylactic Acid (PLA), strengthened with fine particles of bronze scrap particles as reinforcement fabricated by FFF-based additive manufacturing technique. The composite specimens are manufactured as per ASTM standard with different combinations of build orientation, infill pattern, and no. of reinforcement layers. The orientation angles of 0⁰, 30⁰, and 60⁰ are used for building the composite specimens with honeycomb, rectilinear, and grid infill patterns. 1, 2 and 3 layers of reinforcement stacking is made between PLA matrix while building the tensile specimens. The tensile test findings revealed that the rectilinear build pattern highly influences the tensile strength of the fabricated samples. Compared to pure PLA, the reduced trend of tensile strength is observed on reinforced PLA composites. The outcome of this research effort prompts the exploration of further advancements in enhancing PLA's tensile properties when reinforced with metal scrap particles. Further, this research provoked the development of PLA matrix composites through additive manufacturing techniques with metal scrap particle reinforcement to strengthen the polymer, emphasizing the prominence of achieving a robust interfacial bond between the matrix and the reinforcing phases.