Fracture and Structural Integrity e-ISSN 1971-8993 Open access
Integrity of materials and structures Vol. 19, No. 73 (2025)

Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration

Author and affiliation details
  • Valentina Tomei Corresponding author Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy. European University of Technology, European Union. ORCID iD0000-0002-3063-7702 v.tomei@unicas.it
  • Ernesto Grande Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy. European University of Technology, European Union.
  • Maura Imbimbo Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy. European University of Technology, European Union.
DOI
10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13
Pages
181-199
Published
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Published inVol. 19, No. 73 (2025)Go to the issue

Abstract

The paper investigates the use of 3D-printed components made from Polylactic Acid (PLA) for the restoration of architectural and ornamental elements, focusing on architectural/structural components. The material PLA was chosen for its potentiality in respecting the principles of restoration, recognizability, reversibility and minimum intervention, thanks its visual appearance, very different from typical construction materials, biodegradability and affordability. The paper represents an exploratory study aimed to derive the characteristics of 3D-printed PLA components thought tensile tests on dog-bone samples, and to analyze the behavior of structural components, thought tensile and bending tests on small truss beam samples. Unlike previous works mainly oriented towards aesthetic reproduction, this study focuses on the mechanical performance of PLA components designed for structural integration in restoration projects. The results show that the 3D-printed PLA components exhibit an average tensile strength of 44 MPa and an average Young’s modulus of 1270 MPa, values consistent with literature for fully dense PLA prints, and peak loads of about 6.4 kN in tension and 5 kN in bending for truss elements. Furthermore, this study provides data useful for future numerical modelling of 3D-printed structural elements in PLA, aimed at predicting their structural performance and supporting the design phase.

Keywords

Article history

  1. ReceivedUntil the next stage: 3 days
  2. Revision requestedUntil the next stage: 86 days
  3. RevisedUntil the next stage: 0 days
  4. AcceptedUntil the next stage: 1 day
  5. Published

How to cite

APA

Tomei, V., Grande, E., & Imbimbo, M. (2025). Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration. Fracture and Structural Integrity, 19(73), 181–199. https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13

IEEE

V. Tomei, E. Grande, and M. Imbimbo, “Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration,” Fracture and Structural Integrity, vol. 19, no. 73, pp. 181–199, 2025, doi: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13.

MLA

Tomei, Valentina, et al. “Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration.” Fracture and Structural Integrity, vol. 19, no. 73, 2025, pp. 181–199. https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13.

Chicago

Tomei, Valentina, Ernesto Grande, and Maura Imbimbo. 2025. “Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration.” Fracture and Structural Integrity 19 (73): 181–199. https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13.

Harvard

Tomei, V., Grande, E. and Imbimbo, M. (2025) ‘Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration’, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 19(73), pp. 181–199. doi: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13.

Vancouver

Tomei V, Grande E, Imbimbo M. Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration. Fracture and Structural Integrity. 2025;19(73):181-199. doi:10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13

BibTeX

@article{tomei2025, author = {Tomei, Valentina and Grande, Ernesto and Imbimbo, Maura}, title = {Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration}, journal = {Fracture and Structural Integrity}, year = {2025}, volume = {19}, number = {73}, pages = {181--199}, doi = {10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13}, issn = {1971-8993} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Tomei, Valentina AU - Grande, Ernesto AU - Imbimbo, Maura TI - Experimental test on 3D-printing components for Architectural Restoration JO - Fracture and Structural Integrity T2 - Fracture and Structural Integrity PY - 2025 DA - 2025/06/04 VL - 19 IS - 73 SP - 181 EP - 199 DO - 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13 UR - https://doi.org/10.3221/IGF-ESIS.73.13 SN - 1971-8993 ER -

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

May be shared and adapted, provided appropriate credit is given. Copyright © 2025 Valentina Tomei, Ernesto Grande, Maura Imbimbo.

Copyright 
Authors are allowed to retain both the copyright and the publishing rights of their articles without restrictions.  

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