Heat Transfer in 3D‐Printed Polymer Cylindrical Parts

Abstract

AbstractAmong the interesting thermal properties of polymeric materials is questionable their ability to transfer heat. The last decades have shown a significant expansion of manufacturing parts from polymeric materials using 3D printing processes. It is known that these processes allow changing the values of some input factors in the 3D printing workflow, which also leads to a change in the way the polymer material is arranged in part and, therefore, to a change in the capacity of the polymer material to transmit heat. To better understand how the variation of some input factors in the 3D printing process can change the way heat is transferred in test samples of polylactic acid (PLA) manufactured by 3D printing, a relatively simple device is designed whereby one of the surfaces of the test sample comes into contact with an aluminum alloy part heated using electrical resistance. Recording images using an infrared video camera helped to complete the information on how heat is transmitted through the test sample.