<![CDATA[This study aimed to analyze the characteristics and thermal efficiency of a three-dimensional printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) heatsink coated with copper through electroplating at different electrical currents. The heatsink was designed in CAD software, fabricated using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and coated with graphite before electroplating. The electroplating process was conducted at an electrode distance of 6 cm using currents of 0.75, 1.00, and 2.00 A with a constant processing time. We compared the thermal performance of the fabricated heatsinks with that of a commercial aluminum heatsink. The results showed that the applied current affected both coating characteristics and thermal performance. The most uniform coating was obtained at 1.00 A, while 2.00 A produced a thicker but less uniform coating. The aluminum heatsink exhibited an actual efficiency of 48%, whereas the copper-plated PLA heatsink at 0.75 A achieved the highest actual efficiency of 86%, with a theoretical efficiency of approximately 91%. These results indicate that copper electroplating can improve the thermal performance of PLA heatsinks.]]>
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