Tribological characteristics of porous 3D-printed PLA+ with anaerobic methacrylate self-impregnated lubricant

This study investigates the tribological characteristics of porous 3D-printed PLA + samples with anaerobic methacrylate self-impregnated lubricant. The influence of infill pattern (grid, concentric, and triangles) and density (20%, 60%, and 100%) on the friction coefficient and wear volume was examined under both dry and lubricated conditions. The results show that the friction coefficient increases with increasing infill density, regardless of the infill pattern. In dry conditions, the wear volume decreases as infill density increases, due to the reduction in exposed areas and heat generation. Impregnation of anaerobic methacrylate into the porous 3D-printed PLA + significantly reduces the wear volume, especially for the grid pattern sample with 20% density, by up to 90.8% compared to dry conditions. This is attributed to the formation of a low-shear intermediate lubricant film that eases the slipping of the PLA + samples over the counterpart surface. This study provides valuable insights into the tribological behavior of porous 3D-printed PLA + materials and the potential of using self-impregnated lubricants to improve their tribological performance.