An Experimental Study on the Dynamic Properties of 3D-Printed Structures with Different Layer Orientations

The PLA and PLA composites beam structures were manufactured using FDM technology to investigate the effect of layer orientations on the dynamic properties of the structure. The PLA composites consisted of PLA with short carbon fiber (PLA_SCF), and PLA with continuous carbon fiber (PLA_CCF).

The deformation in each structure was obtained with a laser displacement sensor to estimate stiffness. The logarithmic decrement coefficient of each structure was calculated with laser displacement sensor, to examine the amplitude damping phenomena in structures. The Polytec 3D laser vibrometer was used to find out the amplitude spectrum and mode shapes, under dynamic loading conditions induced by the MFC patch. Moreover, the impact test was performed to measure the first natural frequency of each beam structure.

The results showed that structures with a 0°\0° layer orientation exhibited higher natural frequencies and stiffness compared to corresponding structures with a 0°\90° layer orientation. In the structures oriented at 0°\0°, both natural frequency and stiffness increased from PLA to PLA_SCF to PLA_CCF. While, when layers were oriented at 0°\90°, they increased from PLA_CCF to PLA to PLA_SCF.

This research reveals how the dynamic properties of 3D-printed beam structures are influenced by two alternative layer orientations, 0°/0° and 0°/90°. The approaches employed in this study can be implemented in various types of 3D printed materials to investigate their dynamic characteristics.