Processing and Fabrication of Advanced Materials 2023

With an increased demand for mass customization of high-performance products, the industrial world has begun to include critical parts made through additive manufacturing. However, critical polymer components manufactured through layer-by-layer techniques are susceptible to failure at the layer interface. Additively manufactured components fabricated under different process conditions can behave differently depending upon the microstructure and build parameters. Failure in 3D-printed polymer parts can occur at relatively low-stress levels if the interface design is not adequately articulated. The effect of the built interface in printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) parts has been studied with an effort to improve resistance to fracture at selective places, which will be useful in part design. In this article, compact tension specimens were prepared according to standards and were subjected to Mode-I loading. The test results and microscopic examinations were correlated to characterize the failure mechanism of additively manufactured samples. The interface energy strongly depends on the interlayer bonding mechanism between two raster beads. The pristine ABS has been compared with Thermoplastic Poly-Urethane (TPU). The fracture resistance of the TPU printed component exhibits a different behavior compared with ABS, even with the presence of voids, gaps, and improper diffusion at the interlayer regions. The energy absorbed by 3D-printed TPU is higher than that of ABS owing to its considerable strain to fracture.