Corrosion and Thermal Analysis of 316L Stainless Steel Coated PLA Parts Fabricated by FDM Process for Biomedical Applications

In the current investigation, the polylactic acid (PLA) samples were fabricated using fused deposition modeling (FDM) at varying parameters. Then, the fabricated samples were coated with 316L stainless steel at different thicknesses (50, 100 and 150 µm) using a low-cost thermal spray method (electric arc spray). Further, tensile, flexural, wear and in vitro tests were performed on the coated samples in order to analyze their mechanical and corrosion behaviour. Finally, the corroded samples were examined by SEM/EDS, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to analyze their microstructure and thermal behaviour. The results showed that among all the samples, sample 2 offered maximum mechanical properties (tensile strength 29.51 MPa, flexural strength 98 MPa), least corrosion rate (0.055 mm/year) and least coefficient of friction (0.11) at optimum parameters. These better results may be attributed to the optimum combination of process parameters such as raster angle (30°), number of top and bottom layer (3) and coating thickness (100 µm).