6 MONTHS TRAINING FINAL EVALUATION

Project Title- The effect of variation of infill on the

uniaxial tensile properties of 3D printed PLA
specimens
Name of the student- Yash Gopal Mittal

Roll No.-UE159084

Name of the company-Design Innovation Center (DIC), UIET, PU

Name of the mentor-Dr. Prashant Jindal

Index
• Introduction
• Gaps in literature
• Project Formulation
• Materials and methods
• Results and Discussions
• Conclusion and Future Scope
Introduction
• Project-To study and evaluate the effects of different infill patterns
(grid, triangular and tri-hexagon) and different infill densities (25%,
50%, 75%, 100%) on the uniaxial tensile strength and stiffness of
FDM 3D printed PLA specimens.

• Need-
3D printing has been heavily exploited for various uses and
applications, but a proper study on the modeling and design
optimization during printing has not been done.
3D printing
-3D printing is an additive manufacturing technique that
converts a given CAD file into actual 3D models.

-3D printing is of 9 conventional :- Stereolithography (SLA),

Digital Light Processing (DLP), Fused deposition Modeling
(FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Selective Laser
Melting (SLM), Electronic Beam Melting (EBM), Laminated
Object Manufacturing (LOM), Binder Jetting (BJ) and
Material Jetting (MJ).

-Out of which FDM is one of the most popular and most

affordable 3D printing technique.
FDM
• FDM uses a thermoplastic
filament that is melted down
and extruded from a print
head. Once extruded, the Printer cost Low, ranges between
10,000 to few lakhs*
material is immediately Material Cost Low, 2500/kg
cooled and layered on a
Material State Solid filament
platform. The machine head
Material Toxicity Non-toxic
repeats the extruding and
Printing Cost Around 3/g
melting, layer by layer, until
Ease of operation Easy, open source
the part is complete. software
Accuracy Low, 100 microns

Printing time low

Maintenance low

*all the prices are in INR

Infill
• FDM 3D printing is done in layers. Each layer is completed and stacked over
the previous one to get the complete 3D print.
• We can control the filling of layers in terms of shape and relative
compactness. The shape control is called infill pattern while the compactness
control is called infill density.
• There are various infill density (0-100%) and infill patterns available like grid,
triangles, tri-hexagon etc.
• Infill density and infill pattern affects the strength of the 3D printed
component.
Gaps in Literature
• Various researches has been
done on infill density but none
could create a model for
estimation of true stress or
modulus.

• Infill density affects the cross-

sectional area. The true cross-
sectional area cannot be
determined superficially.

• Hence, the values of stress and

modulus determined are not
accurate and needs correction.
Project Undertaken
• To study and evaluate the effects of different infill patterns
(grid, triangular and tri-hexagon) and different infill
densities (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) on the uniaxial tensile
strength and stiffness of FDM 3D printed PLA specimens.
Methodology
• Basic CAD designing of the ASTM D638 standard
1

• Slicing and setting the infill parameters (4 infill densities x 3

2 infill patterns) followed by G-code preparation

Grid Tri Triangles

• FDM 3D printing of 5 samples per category using PLA, Hexagon
3
25 %   
• UTM testing of all the samples at 0.0025 per second strain 50 %   
4 rate
75 %   
• Data interpretation and comparison 100 %   
5

• Area correction followed by correction in properties

6 measured

• Final comparison and results

7
Materials and methods
• PLA- White, 1.73-1.75 diameter spool, for FDM 3D printing.

• LBD Makers single extrusion FDM 3D printer-

Max Temp.-250 degree Celsius, bed area-20cmx20cm, print
volume-8000cc.

• BiSS UTM-Uniaxial load capacity-400N

• Solidworks 2018- CAD designing

• Ultimaker Cura- Open source slicing software to convert CAD

models into G codes.
Materials and Methods

Actual CAD model CAD design of the

3D printed model
Materials and Methods

1 2

• 1 Gauge area of cross-

section of a single grid 75%
infill layer.
• 2 Triangle 25% single infill
layer.
3 • 3 Grid 75% single infill
layer
 ASTM D638 Grid 25%

Tri Hexagon 50% Triangle 75%

(All these sliced images are taken using Cura)

Results
7.1 1.2
7
1
6.9
0.8
σ (MPa)

6.8

E (GPa)
6.7 Grid 0.6 sigma Grid
6.6 sigma Hex Grid
0.4 E Hex Grid
6.5
sigma Triangles E Triangles
6.4 0.2
6.3
25 50 75 100 0
25 50 75 100
Infill Denisty
Infil Density
600
• Variation of peak stress (Sigma,
Stiffness, k(N/mm)

500
400 σ), modulus (E) and stiffness (k)
300 E Grid with increasing infill density for
200 K Hex Grid
K Triangles
each infill pattern (taken into
100
consideration in this study)
0
25 50 75 100
Infill Density

Triangle infill structures happens to be the strongest among the three infill pattern
 Results
Area Correction Factor (Kc)

Y=(Measured area/actual area)=Aw/Ac

Y is always greater than or equal to 1

𝐹
σw= F= σw.Aw
,
𝐴𝑤
𝐹 σw.Aw
σc= = = σw.(Aw/Ac)= σw.(Kc)
𝐴𝑐 𝐴𝑐

Similarly,
Ec=Ew.(Aw/Ac)=Ew.(Kc)

Grid Triangles Tri-hexagonal

25 50 75 100 25 50 75 100 25 50 75 100
Area(mm2)(W) 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
Area(mm2) (C) 14.83 15.38 15.93 18 15.38 15.93 17.53 18 14.92 15.47 16.66 18
Area Correction
Factor (Kc) 1.21375 1.17035 1.1299 1 1.170351 1.129944 1.026811 1 1.20643 1.16354 1.080432 1
σ (MPa)(W) 6.801 6.8883 6.98 7.017 6.8712 6.9152 6.9718 6.998 6.56325 6.7508 6.808 7.02
σ (MPa)(C) 8.254754 8.06173 7.887006 7.017 8.041717 7.813785 7.158722 6.998 7.91813 7.854842 7.355582 7.02
E(GPa)(W) 0.6786 0.719 0.822 0.9766 0.741 0.7704 0.7922 0.9901 0.553 0.607 0.6844 0.9865
E(GPa)(C) 0.823655 0.841482 0.928814 0.9766 0.86723 0.870508 0.81344 0.9901 0.667158 0.70627 0.739448 0.9865
Results
area grid area tri-hex
20
20
Area (mm square)

y = 2E-05x3 - 0.0024x2 + y = -5E-06x3 + 0.0013x2

Area (mm square)

15 0.1335x + 12.76 15 - 0.0523x + 15.5

10 10
area area
5 Poly. (area) 5
Poly. (area)
0 0
0 50 100 150 0 50 100 150
Infill percentage Infill percentage

A=𝒂𝒙𝟑 + 𝒃𝒙𝟐 + 𝒄𝒙 + 𝒅, 𝒙 = 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 = 𝟐𝟓, 𝟓𝟎, 𝟕𝟓, 𝟏𝟎𝟎

area triangle a B c d
19
Area (mm square)

y = -2E-05x3 + 0.0043x2
18 - 0.2009x + 18.06 Grid 0.00002 -0.0024 0.1335 12.763
17
area
16 Triangle
Poly. (area) -0.00002 +0.0043 -0.2009 18.06
15
0 50 100 150
Infill percentage
Tri hexagon -0.000005 0.0013 -0.0523 15.5
Results
2 2
1.8 1.8
1.6 1.6
1.4 1.4
Weight (g)

Weight (g)
1.2 1.2
1 1
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0 0
TriHex 25 TriHex 50 TriHex 75 TriHex 100 Tri 25 Tri 50 Tri 75 Tri 100

2
1.8 • With increase in infill, the
1.6
1.4 weight of the sample increases
Weight (g)

1.2
1
0.8
i.e. more material is present
0.6
0.4 in the sample.
0.2
0
Grid 25 Grid 50 Grid 75 Grid 100
 Results
Stress (MPa) Modulus (GPa)
7.1 1.2
7 1
6.9
0.8
6.8
0.6
6.7
6.6 0.4
6.5 0.2
6.4
0
6.3
Tri Tri Grid Tri Tri Grid Tri Tri Grid tri grid tri
Hex Hex 25 hex 25 50 50 75 75 100 100 hex
25 50 75 100

k(N/mm)
600
500 It is not always the case that
400
300
increase in material usage will result
200 in increase in strength.
100
0
Discussion

• Each strand acts as a prismatic bar whose

uniaxial tensile stiffness depends on
modulus, cross sectional area, length and
orientation w.r.t. to applied force.
• By changing any of the above stated
parameters the overall stiffness can be
changed.
• A collection of strands can be
approximated to a spring system.
Conclusion
• Infill is an important parameter during slicing and G-code
preparation.

• Infill density as well as infill pattern affects the mechanical

properties of the 3D printed part.

• It is possible to get higher strength at lower infill densities

with a different infill pattern. Thereby saving time and
material and producing light weight components.
Thank you