The Transferability and Design of Commercial Printer Settings in PLA/PBAT Fused Filament Fabrication

In many fused filament fabrication (FFF) processes, commercial printers are used, but rarely are printer settings transferred from one commercial printer to the other to give similar final tensile part performance. Here, we report such translation going from the Felix 3.0 to Prusa i3 MK3 printer by adjusting the flow rate and overlap of strands, utilizing an in-house developed blend of polylactic acid (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT). We perform a sensitivity analysis for the Prusa printer, covering variations in nozzle temperature, nozzle diameter, layer thickness, and printing speed (T_nozzle, d_nozzle, LT, and v_print), aiming at minimizing anisotropy and improving interlayer bonding. Higher mass, larger width, and thickness are obtained with larger d_nozzle, lower v_print, higher LT, and higher T_nozzle. A higher v_print results in less tensile strain at break, but it remains at a high strain value for samples printed with d_nozzle equal to 0.5 mm. v_print has no significant effect on the tensile modulus and tensile and impact strength of the samples. If LT is fixed, an increased d_nozzle is beneficial for the tensile strength, ductility, and impact strength of the printed sample due to better bonding from a wider raster structure, while an increased LT leads to deterioration of mechanical properties. If the ratio d_nozzle/LT is greater than 2, a good tensile performance is obtained. An improved T_nozzle leads to a sufficient flow of material, contributing to the performance of the printed device. The considerations brought forward result in a deeper understanding of the FFF process and offer guidance about parameter selection. The optimal d_nozzle/v_print/LT/T_nozzle combination is 0.5 mm/120 mm s^-1/0.15 mm/230 °C.