Dry sliding wear behavior of additively manufactured polylactic acid (PLA) with different surface texture

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is a method that increases its importance in today's world and is preferred over other manufacturing methods to create complex geometries more easily. This method can be used to manufacture metallic, polymeric, and ceramic materials. Polymeric materials can be produced in complex geometries using this method, and their usage areas are increasing rapidly. The widespread use of these materials increases the importance of the wear behavior of these materials. This study applied to two different surface textures, Seams Line Ogons (SLO) and HoneyComb (HC), in parts made of polylactic acid. The dry sliding wear behavior was compared with the untreated surface. Dry sliding wear tests were performed at 0.075 mm/s for 900 s for 3N, 7N, and 10N load values. Scanning electron and optical microscope images were used to determine the wear mechanisms. In addition, surface textures were compared according to the changes in the friction coefficient. According to the results, the samples with SLO and HC surface textures exhibited higher abrasion resistance than the untreated surface. As the texture density increased, the wear resistance increased. The SLO sample, which has twice the surface texture density compared to the HC sample, showed the highest wear resistance. In both surface textures, the friction coefficient values increased compared to the untreated sample, and the friction coefficient decreased with increasing load in all samples. According to the scanning electron microscope images, the effective wear mechanisms were delamination and plastic deformation.