With the advancement of Additive Manufacturing and its applications in various industrial sectors, it becomes increasingly important to investigate the processability parameters associated with this technology. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of shape (solid and honeycomb), infill patterns (concentric, hexagons, and triangles), and concentrations of Carbon Nanotubes - CNTs (1 and 2 wt%) in a polymeric matrix of Poly (Lactic Acid) - PLA. The material was fabricated using the Fusion Deposition Modeling - FDM technique. The CNTs, PLA, and nanocomposites were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy - SEM, X - Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Raman Spectroscopy. Mechanical properties were analyzed through tensile, compression, and Charpy impact tests. The results of the SEM analysis before and after mechanical testing show: voids, CNTs, cracks, pores, and fractures. XRD analysis reveals two diffraction peaks for CNTs at 2θ: 30.01° and 2θ: 50.03°, while PLA and nanocomposites exhibit predominantly amorphous phases. In Raman characterization, the vibrational bands of CNTs, PLA, and nanocomposites were deconvoluted into subbands. CNTs showed the following subbands: DL, DR, DLO, Dmiddle, Gout, Ginn, D', 2DL, 2DR, DL + Gout, and DR + Ginn, in PLA the most prominent subbands are associated with symmetric and asymmetric vibrations of CH3. In nanocomposites, the subbands manifest as overlap of the vibrational modes of their respective constituents (PLA and CNTs). The mechanical analyses of tensile, compression, and Charpy impact tests indicate that infill patterns, shapes, and nanoreinforcement influence the mechanical properties. In tensile testing, the concentric infill pattern exhibited better performance for both shapes, with 40.75 MPa for the solid shape and 9.76 MPa for the honeycomb shape. The nanocomposites in tensile testing showed lower performance compared to the matrix. In compression testing, the triangular infill pattern showed better performance, with 52.8 MPa for the solid shape and 20.8 MPa for the honeycomb shape. In compression testing, the nanocomposites exhibited higher strengths than the matrix, with the PLA/2%CNTs nanocomposite showing the best performance in the solid shape at 73.5 MPa, and in the honeycomb shape, the PLA/1%CNTs nanocomposite performed the best at 33.2 MPa. In Charpy impact testing for the solid shape, the infill patterns did not differ in performance. However, in the honeycomb shape, the hexagon pattern stood out, with 2.88 J/m. For the nanocomposites, in both shapes, the PLA/2%CNTs fraction showed better performance, with 3.8 J/m for the solid shape and 2.98 J/m for the honeycomb shape.
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