On Fracture Mechanism of 3D Printed Nanofiber-Reinforced PLA Matrix

3D printing of polylactic acid (PLA) is having surgical utilities in numerous orthopedic implants, especially in the reconstruction of fractured and defective bone/tooth/muscles. Some studies have reported that PLA-based nanofibers (NFs) are being used to improve cell adhesion/growth and mechanical properties. But hitherto, fewer studies have reported the fracture mechanism of 3D printed PLA composites sandwiched with PLA-NFs under flexural loading. Such PLA composites are useful in canine orthopedic implants. In this study, 3D printing was performed to sandwich the 01, 02, and 03 layers of PLA-NFs between the layers of the PLA matrix. The results suggested that sandwiching 02 layers of PLA-NFs ensured the maximum resistance against flexural loading (flexural strength 61.62 MPa) and crash loading (modulus of toughness (MoT) 3.327 MPa). The higher surface roughness (Ra) in the PLA + two-layer PLA-NF prototypes (Ra 73.40 µm) was observed due to the involvement of stretched pores contributed by elongation (elongation at break 12%). Overall the PLA + PLA-NFs prototypes subjected to flexural loading have confirmed that flexural properties are suitable (from the surgical perspective).