Mechanical Characterization of FDM 3D-Printed Components Using Advanced Measurement and Modeling Techniques

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a popular additive manufacturing technique for producing polymer components.
• Accurate mechanical characterization of FDM-processed materials is crucial for reliable engineering applications.
• Existing characterization methods may not fully capture the complexities of FDM materials, such as anisotropy and heterogeneity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mechanical properties of PET-G components fabricated using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).
• To develop and validate an advanced methodology for precise material parameter identification.
• To establish optimized FDM printing conditions for reliable sample fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Extensive parametric analysis of FDM printing conditions (temperature, speed, infill density).
• Integration of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) for full-field strain measurement.
• Application of Finite Element Method Updating (FEMU) in an inverse problem-solving approach to identify material parameters (Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio).

Main Results:

• Identified significant dependencies of material stiffness on infill pattern and density, with Young's modulus varying up to 20%.
• Demonstrated the limitations of conventional tensile testing for FDM materials due to anisotropy and microstructural heterogeneity.
• Validated a combined DIC and FEMU methodology for accurate mechanical characterization.

Conclusions:

• The proposed DIC-FEMU methodology provides enhanced accuracy for characterizing FDM materials.
• Material properties, particularly stiffness, are highly sensitive to printing parameters like infill.
• Advanced characterization techniques are necessary for reliable predictive modeling and standardization of additive manufacturing processes.