Experimental investigation of tensile properties of wood-Poly lactic acid biocomposites developed via 3D printing

Recently biomaterials are developed using 3D printing technology in medical and pharmaceutical fields. In particular, preparation of tailored medical devices such as screws, cranial fixations, and bone-plate fixation using ecofriendly materials has hastened significantly. 3D printing materialized as a workable tool to decrease production cost at faster rate of development of products. In the present study, a digital 3D samples are designed using computer aided design (CAD) software and are saved in STL (stereolithography) format. Samples were prepared using biodegradable wood –Poly lactic acid (PLA) filaments via 3 D printing.  Tensile properties of samples were measured as per ASTM D 638 M standards. The samples were tested at a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min and the strain was measured using an extensometer. The experimental results revealed that, tensile strength of wood-PLA composite was 1.56 times that of plain PLA. The tensile modulus wood-PLA composite was 1.55 times that of plain PLA. There is a significant change in the tensile properties of PLA when reinforced with wood.