Iranian Journal of Manufacturing Engineering

Iranian Journal of Manufacturing Engineering

Faster 3D printing, higher energy absorption: investigating the effect of high Printing speeds on fused filament fabricated wood–PLA composites

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Rezgar Hasanzadeh 1
Shapour Ebrahimi 2
Fatemeh Yousefi 1
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kermanshah University of Technology, Kermanshah, Iran
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical and Vocational University (TVU), Tehran, Iran
10.22034/ijme.2026.586338.2195
Abstract
Wood–polylactic acid composites have emerged as promising materials for fused filament fabrication due to their environmental benefits, printability, and satisfactory mechanical performance. Although extensive research has been conducted on these materials, previous studies have primarily focused on relatively low printing speeds, and the behavior of wood–PLA composites under high-speed printing conditions remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of printing speed on the energy absorption performance of wood–PLA composites manufactured by fused filament fabrication. Cylindrical specimens were fabricated at printing speeds of 50 and 250 mm/s and subsequently subjected to quasi-static compression testing. Energy absorption characteristics, including energy absorption (EA), specific energy absorption (SEA), and crushing force efficiency (CFE), were calculated and compared. The results revealed that increasing the printing speed from 50 to 250 mm/s reduced the printing time by 10.5%. More importantly, EA, SEA, and CFE increased by 21%. When production efficiency was considered through time-normalized indicators, even greater improvements were observed. Normalized energy absorption, normalized specific energy absorption, and normalized crushing force efficiency increased by 34%, respectively. Force–displacement responses demonstrated that both printing conditions exhibited a desirable stretching-dominated deformation mechanism with a stable plateau region, while the higher printing speed provided superior energy absorption capability and process efficiency. The novelty of this work lies in providing the first experimental assessment of the influence of a high printing speed of 250 mm/s on the energy absorption behavior of wood–PLA composites, offering valuable insights for the development of high-productivity additive manufacturing applications.
Keywords
Wood-Plastic Composite
Fused Filament Fabrication
Printing Speed
Energy Absorption
3D Printing
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