Changes in Thermal Properties of Printouts Made of PETG and PLA Doped with Copper After Electrocorrosive Ageing Process

The article presents the results of research on selected thermal, mechanical properties, as well as the microscopic structure of filaments and details made on a 3D printer in FDM technology. The materials used in the study were PETG (polyethylene terephthalate doped with glycol) and PLA (polylactide) doped with copper. As part of the study, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was performed in order to determine the temperatures of phase transformations and changes in melting enthalpy values of filaments before the printing process and also elements made of them. The second part of the research was electrocorrosive ageing process of printouts, carried out in the Simulated Body Fluid solution in a device generating 0.3 A direct current, voltage with value 4.3 V for the entire duration of the test, which was 720 h. After this process DSC test was conducted again. The next stage of the research was Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) of printouts before and after electrocorrosive ageing process. This test was carried out to characterize the dynamic-mechanical properties as a function of frequency, temperature and time. Additionally, microscopic analyses of the surfaces of the tested printouts were performed in order to assess the changes after electrolysis.