Initial Study on Rheological Behaviour of Hydroxyapatites / Polylactic Acid Composite for 3D Printing Filament

Afeeqa Puteri Marzuki; Mohd Alfiqrie  Mohd Nasir; Farrahshaida  Mohd Salleh; Muhammad Hussain  Ismail; Bibi Intan Suraya  Murat; Marzuki  Ibrahim

doi:10.15282/ijame.21.1.2024.10.0856

Authors

A.P. Marzuki College of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
M.A. Mohd Nasir College of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
F. Mohd Salleh College of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
M.H. Ismail College of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
B.I.S. Murat College of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
M. Ibrahim Centre of Design Studies, Faculty of Innovative Design and Technology, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15282/ijame.21.1.2024.10.0856

Keywords:

Polylactic acid, Hydroxyapatite, Rheological behaviour, Composite filament, 3D printing

Abstract

The present fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing process has concentrated on combining metal or ceramic filled with polymer because it could provide a strong composite in layered manufacturing technology in comparison to a single polymer material. However, the ability of the composite material to flow into the extruder becomes an obstacle because of the changes in the polymer concentration and dispersion of filler particles in producing the printed part. Hence, the rheological behavior of Hydroxyapatites (HAp) / Polylactic Acid (PLA) composite with different contents of HAp was studied to assess its ability to flow through the extruder during the 3D printing process. Measurements such as pycnometer density, thermal analysis (DSC) and FT-IR were performed on the composite feedstock containing a variation of 10% to 30% HAp powder. The feedstocks behavior then were characterized by rheological tests at three different temperatures (140 oC, 150 oC, and 160 oC). The composition of PLA/20HAp has produced optimum rheological behavior with effective flow behavior index (n) and activation energy (E) of 0.396 and 89.03 kJ/mol, respectively which is suitable for extruding out the HAp/PLA composite to become a 3D printing filament material.