PSI - Issue 83

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 83 (2026) 146–153

© 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Abstract Despite the progress of additive manufacturing (AM), material consumption and waste generation remain critical concerns, particularly for thermoplastic filaments. Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most used material in fused deposition modelling (FDM) due to its low cost and ease of processing. However, failed builds result in considerable material loss. Recycling discarded PLA into printable filament offers a potential strategy to reduce both environmental impact and production costs. In this work, the fracture behavior of recycled PLA processed by FDM is experimentally assessed through Charpy impact testing. Specimens manufactured from virgin PLA were used as a reference, while recycled PLA samples were produced using three nozzle temperatures. Impact tests were performed at ambient and low temperatures. The results indicate a marked reduction in absorbed impact energy for recycled PLA compared to virgin material at room temperature, with further degradation observed under low-temperature testing. These findings suggest that, although recycled PLA may be suitable for applications where stiffness is prioritized, improvements in processing strategies are required to ensure reliable structural performance. The fourth European Conference on the Structural Integrity of Additively Manufactured Materials (ESIAM26) Fracture assessment of additively manufactured recycled polylactic acid (PLA) at room and low temperatures Manuel A.R.V. Esteves a , Raul D.S.G. Campilho a,b, * , Francisco J.G. da Silva a,b , Hamza Belkhanchi c , Jai I.P. Singh d a CIDEM, ISEP – School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal. b INEGI – Pólo FEUP, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 400, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. c EAPT, Superior School of Technology, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, 23000 Beni Mellal, Morocco. d School of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the ESIAM26 organizers Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Polymer recycling; Charpy test; Printing temperature.

* Corresponding author. Phone:+351939526892; Fax:+351228321159; Email:raulcampilho@gmail.com

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the ESIAM26 organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.07.017