Characterisation and manufacturing methods of material extrusion 3D printing composite filaments based on polylactide and nanohydroxyapatite

As the pace of scientific research and technological advancement accelerates, there is an increasing demand for rapid on-site prototyping with specific materials. Additive manufacturing through material extrusion 3D printing has emerged as an economically viable solution to this need. The production of custom filaments for this process frequently depends on low-volume filament manufacturing lines. A significant challenge in such production processes is maintaining the quality of the filament throughout its entire length, as this has a considerable impact on the quality of the final printed object. To ensure consistent quality, it is essential to monitor and manage a range of essential properties, including diameter consistency, material homogeneity and compound ratio. This study presents the implementation of a real-time filament quality monitor (R-FQM), which provides detailed insight into the longitudinal characteristics of the filament during the manufacturing process and its crystallinity analysis. In conjunction with a new proof-of-concept drawing process for reducing filament diameter by multi stage drawing die solid-state extrusion, this approach addresses the challenge of maintaining filaments quality. Several PLA-based filaments were produced for research purposes: pure PLA and composites containing 5 and 10 wt% nanohydroxyapatite. Produced composite filaments had significantly greater diameter variation compared to pure PLA (largest for 5 % filler +/- 0.29 mm). The diameter of the resulting filaments was reduced in the range of 2.5-1.4 mm using the SSE approach. In addition to the R-FQM method, the filaments were characterised by structural, thermal and mechanical property analysis. The analyses showed that the 10 % hydroxyapatite content in the filament subjected to the SSE process can lead to significant weakening of the material. However, all the filaments were suitable for 3D printing for biomedical applications. The research carried out demonstrated the complementarity of the R-FQM method with classical methods, confirming the effectiveness of the approach described.