In this research, PLA (poly-lactic acid)/ x wt.% NdBFe composites ( x = 0, 5, 25, 50, and 75) were fabricated through the employment of FDM (Fused deposition modeling) 3D printing approach. The NdBFe powders were crushed through ball milling at different times. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data showed that the milling of NdBFe powders improves the crystallinity. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results revealed that the milling of these powders resulted in a tremendous reduction of particle size from about 125 to 5 μm while the morphology of particles effectively changed from sharp tip shape to semi-spheres. The vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis showed that the ball milling of the NdBFe powders enhances the magnetic characteristics of PLA/NdBFe composites. The improvement of magnetic response was interestingly correlated with the decrease in particle size as well as the geometry change of particles. The tensile strength test demonstrated that the ball milling of NdBFe powders improves the tensile strength from 17 to 26 MPa where the increase of NdBFe from 5 to 75 wt.%, results in the suppression of tensile strength from about 26 to 10 MPa. This phenomenon is attributed to the appearance of their structural defects.
Soltani et al. (Mon,) studied this question.