Exploring Shore D Hardness Variations Under Different Printing Conditions and Post-processing Treatments

This study investigated the influence of two key printing parameters-namely, layer thickness and infill percentage and also the annealing effect, on the hardness of PLA and ABS components.Employing the design of experiment (DOE) methodology, the most significant factor influencing the Shore D hardness values for each material was established, in addition to determining the optimal printing parameters that yield maximum hardness in the printed parts.Our findings reveal that layer thickness significantly impacts the hardness of 3D printed PLA and ABS specimens, with printing infill percentage exerting a comparatively smaller influence, while in case of PLA annealed samples, the most significant factor is infill percentage.