TY - JOUR A1 - Frunzaverde, Doina A1 - Cojocaru, Vasile A1 - Ciubotariu, Costel-Relu A1 - Miclosina, Calin-Octavian A1 - Ardeljan, Deian Dorel A1 - Ignat, Emil Florin A1 - Marginean, Gabriela T1 - The Influence of the Printing Temperature and the Filament Color on the Dimensional Accuracy, Tensile Strength, and Friction Performance of FFF-Printed PLA Specimens JF - Polymers MDPI N2 - The printing variable least addressed in previous research aiming to reveal the effect of the FFF process parameters on the printed PLA part’s quality and properties is the filament color. Moreover, the color of the PLA, as well as its manufacturer, are rarely mentioned when the experimental conditions for the printing of the samples are described, although current existing data reveal that their influence on the final characteristics of the print should not be neglected. In order to point out the importance of this influential parameter, a natural and a black-colored PLA filament, produced by the same manufacturer, were selected. The dimensional accuracy, tensile strength, and friction properties of the samples were analyzed and compared for printing temperatures ranging from 200 � C up to 240 � C. The experimental results clearly showed different characteristics depending on the polymer color of samples printed under the same conditions. Therefore, the optimization of the FFF process parameters for the 3D-printing of PLA should always start with the proper selection of the type of the PLA material, regarding both its color and the fabricant. KW - additive manufacturing KW - polylactic acid (PLA) KW - fused filament fabrication (FFF) KW - fused deposition modeling (FDM) KW - printing temperature KW - filament color KW - dimensional accuracy KW - tensile strength KW - friction performance; wear Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14101978 VL - 2022 IS - 14 SP - 1978 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ardeljan, Deian Dorel A1 - Frunzaverde, Doina A1 - Cojocaru, Vasile A1 - Turiac, Raul-Rusalin A1 - Bacescu, Nicoleta A1 - Ciubotariu, Costel-Relu A1 - Marginean, Gabriela T1 - The Impact of Elevated Printing Speeds and Filament Color on the Dimensional Precision and Tensile Properties of FDM-Printed PLA Specimens JF - Polymers N2 - This study examines the effect of elevated printing speeds (100–600 mm/s) on the dimensional accuracy and tensile strength of PLA components fabricated via fused deposition modeling (FDM). To isolate the influence of printing speed, all other parameters were kept constant, and two filament variants—natural (unpigmented) and black PLA—were analyzed. ISO 527-2 type 1A specimens were produced and tested for dimensional deviations and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The results indicate that printing speed has a marked impact on both geometric precision and mechanical performance. The optimal speed of 300 mm/s provided the best compromise between dimensional accuracy and tensile strength for both filaments. At speeds below 300 mm/s, under-extrusion caused weak layer bonding and air gaps, while speeds above 300 mm/s led to over-extrusion and structural defects due to thermal stress and rapid cooling. Black PLA yielded better dimensional accuracy at higher speeds, with cross-sectional deviations between 2.76% and 5.33%, while natural PLA showed larger deviations of up to 8.63%. However, natural PLA exhibited superior tensile strength, reaching up to 46.59 MPa, with black PLA showing up to 13.16% lower UTS values. The findings emphasize the importance of speed tuning and material selection for achieving high-quality, reliable, and efficient FDM prints. KW - additive manufacturing KW - polylactic acid (PLA) KW - fused filament fabrication (FFF) KW - fused deposition modeling (FDM) KW - printing speed KW - filament color KW - dimensional accuracy KW - ultimate tensile strength (UTS) Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:1010-opus4-48255 VL - 2025 (Special Issue Mechanical Behaviour of Polymeric-Based Systems Used in Engineering Applications, 2nd Edition) IS - 17(15) PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cojocaru, Vasile A1 - Turiac, Raul-Rusalin A1 - Frunzaverde, Doina A1 - Trisca, Gelu A1 - Bacescu, Nicoleta A1 - Marginean, Gabriela T1 - Effect of the Printing Scenario on the Dimensional Accuracy and the Tensile Strength of Different Colored PLA Specimens Produced by Fused Deposition Modeling JF - Applied Sciences N2 - Dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties of components printed by fused deposition modeling (FDM) are influenced by several process parameters. In this paper, the authors targeted the effect of the printing scenario and the PLA (polylactic acid) color on parts’ quality. Three scenarios were analyzed: individually printing, simultaneously printing of three, respective five specimens of natural (transparent), red, grey, and black PLA. The temperature variations of successive deposited layers were recorded for the black PLA. The dimensional accuracy of tensile specimens was evaluated, tensile tests were performed, and the results were correlated with the mesostructure of the prints. The effect of the independent variables on the measured parameters was analyzed by ANOVA. The experiments revealed differences for the same printing scenario regarding cross-section area (up to 5.71%) and tensile strength (up to 10.45%) determined by the material color. The number of specimens printed simultaneously and the position of the pecimens on the build plate were found to influence too, but less than the color. Thus, increasing from one to five the number of specimens printed at a time altered both the dimensional accuracy (up to 3.93% increase of the cross-section area) and the tensile strength (up to 3.63% reduction). KW - fused deposition modeling (FDM) KW - polylactic acid (PLA) KW - printing scenario KW - filament color KW - dimensional accuracy KW - tensile strength (UTS) Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177642 VL - 14 (2024) IS - 17, Artikel 7642 ER -