Authors: Baylee Schumacher, Ryley Horrocks, Divya Singh
Mentors: Divya Singh
Insitution: Utah Tech University
3D printed plastics have gained immense popularity in the recent times given the direct integration with CAD based software platform as well as ease of manufacturing. In addition, use of 3D printed parts can be more economical and less labor intensive.
However, the mechanical behavior of these plastics is not well defined. There are many factors that affect the integrity of 3D printed plastic – extrusion temperature, infill pattern and infill percentage being a few of them.
In this work, authors have attempted to study the effect of these factors on the tensile and flexure (bending) strength of 3D printed plastics. Firstly, tensile and bending samples are prepared by varying on more of the following – extrusion temperature, infill patter and infill percentage. Further, the specimens are tested in a destructive manner for tensile and flexure strength following the standard tensile and three-point bending technique on a Materials Testing System. The results on the variation in the strength as a function of print parameters provides an insight on the importance of standardizing these parameters to maximize strength and minimize cost.
Keywords: additive manufacturing, 3D printed plastic, tensile strength, flexure strength