Experimental investigation and multi-response design of FFF-printed PLA honeycomb sandwich panels for flexural performance and mass efficiency
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sreyas Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- 2Department of Energy Technology, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
- 3Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana, India
- 4Department of Mechanical Engineering, JNTUK University College of Engineering Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh, India
- 5Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan, Phuentsholing, Bhutan
- 6Trident Welding Research and Academy, Hyderabad, India
- 7Department of Mechanical engineering, MLR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India
Abstract
Lightweight sandwich structures produced by fused filament fabrication (FFF) require geometric designs that provide adequate mechanical performance without excessive material usage. However, the geometric parameters governing flexural response and structural mass can favour different design configurations, making response-specific parameter selection unsuitable when both requirements must be considered simultaneously. This study experimentally investigates the effects of honeycomb cell size (HCS), honeycomb cell-wall thickness (HCT), top face-sheet thickness (TFS), and bottom face-sheet thickness (BFS) on the flexural strength and mass of FFF-printed polylactic acid (PLA) honeycomb sandwich panels. Eighteen geometric configurations were fabricated according to a mixed-level Taguchi L18 orthogonal array and evaluated by three-point bending and mass measurement. Analysis of means (ANOM) was used to identify response-specific factor levels, while analysis of variance (ANOVA) quantified the relative contributions of the geometric parameters. HCS and HCT accounted for 45.9% and 34.1% of the modelled variation in flexural strength, respectively, whereas HCT and HCS accounted for 50.9% and 34.0% of the modelled variation in panel mass. Because the parameter settings favoured by maximum flexural strength differed from those favoured by minimum mass, the ANOM factor levels were combined with normalized ANOVA contributions in a contribution-weighted multi-response selection procedure. The resulting configuration, HCS = 6 mm, HCT = 1.08 mm, TFS = 1.18 mm, and BFS = 1 mm, produced a flexural strength of 13.21 MPa and a mass of 34.367 g in the validation experiment. Compared with the highest-strength L18 configuration, the selected design retained 90.54% of the measured flexural strength while reducing panel mass by 50.29%. The results indicate that the core-related variables accounted for most of the modelled variation in the two measured responses. Within the investigated design space, the contribution-weighted procedure was used as a study-specific means of reconciling the response-specific factor settings and selecting a candidate strength–mass compromise for experimental evaluation.
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BibTeX
@article{yelamasetti2026experimental,
title = {{Experimental investigation and multi-response design of FFF-printed PLA honeycomb sandwich panels for flexural performance and mass efficiency}},
author = {Balram Yelamasetti and Abhishek Agarwal and Mahender Thotakuri and I. Sri Phani Sushma and Jamyang Choden and Naveen Kumar P and Harikishor Kumar},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358969},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358969},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Experimental investigation and multi-response design of FFF-printed PLA honeycomb sandwich panels for flexural performance and mass efficiency
AU - Balram Yelamasetti
AU - Abhishek Agarwal
AU - Mahender Thotakuri
AU - I. Sri Phani Sushma
AU - Jamyang Choden
AU - Naveen Kumar P
AU - Harikishor Kumar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358969
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358969
AB - Lightweight sandwich structures produced by fused filament fabrication (FFF) require geometric designs that provide adequate mechanical performance without excessive material usage. However, the geometric parameters governing flexural response and structural mass can favour different design configurations, making response-specific parameter selection unsuitable when both requirements must be considered simultaneously. This study experimentally investigates the effects of honeycomb cell size (HCS), honeycomb cell-wall thickness (HCT), top face-sheet thickness (TFS), and bottom face-sheet thickness (BFS) on the flexural strength and mass of FFF-printed polylactic acid (PLA) honeycomb sandwich panels. Eighteen geometric configurations were fabricated according to a mixed-level Taguchi L18 orthogonal array and evaluated by three-point bending and mass measurement. Analysis of means (ANOM) was used to identify response-specific factor levels, while analysis of variance (ANOVA) quantified the relative contributions of the geometric parameters. HCS and HCT accounted for 45.9% and 34.1% of the modelled variation in flexural strength, respectively, whereas HCT and HCS accounted for 50.9% and 34.0% of the modelled variation in panel mass. Because the parameter settings favoured by maximum flexural strength differed from those favoured by minimum mass, the ANOM factor levels were combined with normalized ANOVA contributions in a contribution-weighted multi-response selection procedure. The resulting configuration, HCS = 6 mm, HCT = 1.08 mm, TFS = 1.18 mm, and BFS = 1 mm, produced a flexural strength of 13.21 MPa and a mass of 34.367 g in the validation experiment. Compared with the highest-strength L18 configuration, the selected design retained 90.54% of the measured flexural strength while reducing panel mass by 50.29%. The results indicate that the core-related variables accounted for most of the modelled variation in the two measured responses. Within the investigated design space, the contribution-weighted procedure was used as a study-specific means of reconciling the response-specific factor settings and selecting a candidate strength–mass compromise for experimental evaluation.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -