The Thermal and Mechanical Behaviour of Wood-PLA Composites Processed by Additive Manufacturing for Building Insulation

This study was aimed at considering the potential of wood-based composites processed using additive manufacturing as insulators in the building sector. A polylactic acid blend with 30% wood particles was used as a feedstock material in fused filament technology. Its thermal and mechanical properties were determined for various processing conditions, including printing temperature and infill rate. The results showed a minor contraction in its tensile performance as a result of the printing process. The printing temperature had a negligible effect on its stiffness and a limited influence on the other engineering constants, such as the tensile strength and ultimate stress. The thermal properties of printed structures have been found to significantly depend on the infill rate. Although the tested 3D printed wood-PLA material exhibited good thermal properties, which were tuneable using the printing conditions, its performance was still 38% to 57% lower compared to insulators such as the glass wool of the synthetic foams used in the building sector.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the potential of wood-based composites processed using additive manufacturing as insulators in the building sector. The thermal and mechanical properties of a PLA blend with wood particles were tested under different processing conditions. The results showed that the printing process slightly affected its tensile performance, while the printing temperature had no significant influence on stiffness but had a limited effect on other engineering constants. The thermal properties of printed structures were found to depend on the infill rate, but the performance of the 3D printed wood-PLA material was still lower compared to traditional insulators like glass wool and synthetic foams used in buildings.