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Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Fabrication and Design of Wood-Based High-Performance Composites
Published on: November 9, 2019
The Thermal and Mechanical Behaviour of Wood-PLA Composites Processed by Additive Manufacturing for Building
Anis Bahar1,2,3, Ameur El Amine Hamami3, Ferhat Benmahiddine3,4
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, IUT Nantes, Nantes Université, Oniris, CNRS, GEPEA, UMR 6144, F-44000 Nantes, France.
Abstract:
This study was aimed at considering the potential of wood-based composites processed using additive manufacturing as insulators in the building sector. A polylactic acid blend with 30% wood particles was used as a feedstock material in fused filament technology. Its thermal and mechanical properties were determined for various processing conditions, including printing temperature and infill rate. The results showed a minor contraction in its tensile performance as a result of the printing process. The printing temperature had a negligible effect on its stiffness and a limited influence on the other engineering constants, such as the tensile strength and ultimate stress. The thermal properties of printed structures have been found to significantly depend on the infill rate. Although the tested 3D printed wood-PLA material exhibited good thermal properties, which were tuneable using the printing conditions, its performance was still 38% to 57% lower compared to insulators such as the glass wool of the synthetic foams used in the building sector.
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