Effect of wood flour content on surface properties of 3D printed materials produced from wood flour/PLA filament

Abstract

Amount of wood flour was gradually increased from 0 to 50 wt% in the production of polylactic acid (PLA) based filaments with 1.75 mm diameter using twin screw extruder. Surface roughness and wettability were measured of the specimens. Surface roughness of the specimens significantly increased with incorporation of wood flour into PLA filament. Wettability of the specimens significantly decreased with increasing wood flour content. This was mainly attributed to the higher surface free energy of PLA than the beech wood. Contact angle values of the 3D printed wood/PLA specimens having wood flour content up to 30 wt% were less than 90°.