Mechanical behavior of 3D printed syntactic foam composites

Abstract

A three-dimensional printed (3DP), polymer based syntactic foams are developed using hollow glass micro balloons (GMB) dispersed in high density polyethylene (HDPE). This work presents the buckling and vibration response of 3D printed foams subjected to axial compression. The buckling load is estimated using Modified Budiansky Criteria (MBC) and Double Tangent Method (DTM) through the load–deflection plots. The first three natural frequencies and their mode shapes are computed as a function of axial compressive load. It is noted that the natural frequency reduces with an increase in axial compressive load. It is also observed that with an increase in GMB %, the natural frequencies and critical buckling load increases. In mode-1, the natural frequency decreases in pre-buckling regimes and increases exponentially in post-critical loading conditions. Analytical solutions obtained from the Euler-Bernoulli-beam theory are compared with experimental results. It is noted that the fundamental frequency approaches zero when the axial load is equal to the critical load. The critical buckling load is estimated through the vibration correlation technique and compared with the results obtained using DTM and MBC methods. The property map is plotted for buckling load against the density of various composites.