Unleashing the Potential of FDM-Printed Coir-Based Green Composites

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is considered one of the most cost-effective methods among the various additive manufacturing methods. In FDM, materials such as metals, ceramics, and polymers are widely used as feedstock material. Polymers are well suited for small-scale applications and vendors due to its unique properties as compared to other materials used in FDM. However, polymers have poor mechanical and thermal properties. This chapter explored the potential of FDM-printed polylactic acid (PLA)–coir-based green composites. The mechanical properties of the PLA-based coir composite samples were investigated and conducted statistical analysis to identify the optimal FDM process parameters setting. The experiment used a Taguchi ( L 9 ) orthogonal array with four FDM parameters, i.e., layer thickness (LT), nozzle temperature (NT), infill density (ID), and fibre content ( F ), and three responses such as ultimate tensile strength ( R 1 ), modulus of elasticity ( R 2 ), and percentage of elongation ( R 3 ). The analysis of variance and regression analysis had been conducted to evaluate the statistical significance of the process parameters. The result shows that the ideal setting for R 1 is LT (0.1 mm, Level 1), ID (60, Level 1), NT (200, Level 2), and F (9, Level 3); for R 2 , it is LT (0.3 mm, Level 3), ID (80, Level 2), NT (200, Level 2), and F (3, Level 1); and for R 3 , it is LT (0.2 mm, Level 2), ID (100, Level 3), NT (195, Level 1), and F (9, Level 3). The PLA–coir composite feedstock is well-suited for small-scale vendors and FDM applications.