Ratcheting strain accumulation of 3D-printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene-graphene composites

Abstract

This study aims to examine the ratcheting response of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in its filament and 3D-printed forms. Combined chemical solution and melting compounding technique was used to fabricate the composite filaments through the use of a twin-screw extruder. In terms of filament nanocomposites, the effects of varying in GNP weight percentages was studied on the ratcheting response of the samples undergoing cyclic loads with the stress ratio of R = 0. Results revealed that filaments containing 0.5 wt% GNPs experienced the highest fatigue life and lowest strain ratcheting accumulation as compared to pure ABS filament and those with GNPs at 0.1 and 1.0 wt%. Observations revealed that the 3D-printed parts exhibited more complex ratcheting behaviour, wherein the interaction of printing process parameters including raster orientation and nozzle diameter along with factors such as GNP contents simultaneously influenced the fatigue and ratcheting behaviour of the printed specimens. Selecting the appropriate amount of nanofillers, along with the optimum printing process parameters, not only can increase the fatigue life of a 3D-printed samples, but can also substantially reduce the ratcheting strain accumulation values.