Layer-to-layer physical characteristics and compression behavior of 3D printed polymer metastructures fabricated using different process parameters

Abstract

The extrusion-based three-dimensional printing technology such as fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the widely used one owing to its low cost. The FDM method can be used to fabricate parts with different fill densities, fill patterns, and process parameters such as extrusion temperature and print speed. In this research, influence of process parameters such as extrusion temperature and print speed on the physical characteristics such as the shape and the size of printed fibers in each layer, the fiber distance, and the fiber-to-fiber interface are investigated. In addition, their effects on mechanical characteristics of the printed samples are examined and interpreted with respect to the layer physical characteristics. To accomplish this, metastructure specimens were fabricated using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene polymer on a MakerBot 2X Replicator 3D printer. Three different extrusion temperatures (210, 230, and 250°C) and print speeds (100, 125, and 150 mm/s) were considered with an infill density of 50%. Optical microscopy was performed for layer physical characterization while the compression tests were done to evaluate the mechanical properties such as the failure strength, yield strength, and compressive modulus. It is observed that the print speed has minimal effect on mechanical properties; however, an improvement in mechanical properties is observed at higher fabrication temperature. Also, the lower fabrication temperature results in more uniform features within the layers as compared to those printed at higher extrusion temperature.