الفهرس 
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Abstract
Natural Fiber Reinforced composites (NFRC) are green composites when the polymer matrix is of biodegradable nature. Adaptation of advanced manufacturing techniques like Additive Manufacturing (AM) is essential for marketing the new engineering products due to its simplicity in establishing complex parts and net-shaped structures with limited energy consumption and scrap production. However, despite the advantages and rapid expanding of the 3D printing technology, there is still a challenge in identifying the optimal printing parameters for the 3D printing process and their effect on the mechanical properties for NFRC. This work studied the effect of printing parameters on the mechanical properties of 3D printed NFRC using the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) printing technology. The prepared composites consist of Polylactide (PLA) as a matrix and reinforced with wood natural fibres as a replacement for synthetic carbon fibres (CF). Virgin PLA is also used for comparison. After printing, the impact of different printing parameters on the mechanical properties of the printed composites were examined through tensile and charpy impact tests. Four processing parameters, including layer height, infill density, printing orientation and shell parameters were selected for the experimental analysis. The layer height was either 0.2,0.25 or 0.3. The infill density was set to be 20%,30% or 40%. The shell parameters were 1,2, or 3. The printing orientation was set to be 0°, 45°, or 90°. The experimental result showed that the selected printing parameters in this work, had a clear influence on the mechanical properties of the printed parts; the mechanical properties of the same material can be improved by more than 43% by optimizing the printing parameters. The shell perimeter was identified as one of the most influential parameters on both the tensile and impact strength. The processing parameters of PLA reinforced with wood were optimized and showed that the mechanical properties of PLA/Wood are not too much less than that of PLA/CF; it achieved 85% of the PLA/CF mechanical performance. Hence, eco-friendly filaments such as PLA/Wood can be used as a replacement for the synthetic fibre reinforced composite (PLA/CF) in some applications at which it would satisfy the mechanical properties, in addition to being environmentally friendly and saving money.