Investigation of the tensile behaviour of PolyLactic Acid, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, and Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol materials

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) provides numerous advantages like material waste reduction, dimensional control, and simplified production processes compared to conventional manufacturing techniques. The additive manufacturing techniques are capable of producing complex-shaped components with ease. Out of the several available 3D printing techniques, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is widely used, because of its flexibility in the fabrication of large components. PolyLactic Acid (PLA), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), and Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) are some of the commonly used thermoplastic filaments in the FDM process. It is essential to understand the tensile property of such polymers before selecting them for a requirement. In this regard, the tensile behaviour of the PLA, ABS, and PETG materials is studied in this work. The tensile specimens are modelled in Solidworks modelling software in accordance with the ASTM standards. The specimens are 3D printed using the FDM process and tested in a universal tensile testing machine. The tensile results show that PETG material has high elongation and tensile strength whereas ABS has high stiffness compared to the other materials. PLA is stronger than ABS in terms of tensile strength and is analogous to PETG material. It is evident from the comparison that the PETG filament is suitable for applications like hooks, brackets, etc. which require high tensile strength.