Effect of process parameters on mechanical properties of PLA resin through LCD 3D printing

A widely existent method of fabricating 3D printed parts by polylactic acid (PLA) is by fused deposition modeling, which faces a poor surface finish when compared to resin-based 3D printing methods. The focus of the current work is to leverage LCD 3D printing to produce 3D printed PLA parts with improved strength and surface quality. Tensile, impact, and flexural specimens with varying layer thicknesses were printed and postcured to explore the mechanical properties. It was found that by increasing the layer thickness and minimizing the postcuring time, printed samples with maximum strength can be obtained. Further, rheological characterization was done to test whether the same resin is suitable for usage as raw material in direct ink write 3D printing and it was found that the resin with 4 wt. % and 5wt. % fumed silica were suitable for direct ink writing.