Compression Tests Of Specimens Research Articles

The Effects of Self-Polymerized Polydopamine Coating on Mechanical Properties of Polylactic Acid (PLA)-Kenaf Fiber (KF) in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).

This research examines the impact of self-polymerized polydopamine (PDA) coating on the mechanical properties and microstructural behavior of polylactic acid (PLA)/kenaf fiber (KF) composites in fused deposition modeling (FDM). A biodegradable FDM model of natural fiber-reinforced composite (NFRC) filaments, coated with dopamine and reinforced with 5 to 20 wt.% bast kenaf fibers, was developed for 3D printing applications. Tensile, compression, and flexural test specimens were 3D printed, and the influence of kenaf fiber content on their mechanical properties was assessed. A comprehensive characterization of the blended pellets and printed composite materials was performed, encompassing chemical, physical, and microscopic analyses. The results demonstrate that the self-polymerized polydopamine coating acted as a coupling agent, enhancing the interfacial adhesion between kenaf fibers and the PLA matrix and leading to improved mechanical properties. An increase in density and porosity was observed in the FDM specimens of the PLA-PDA-KF composites, proportional to their kenaf fiber content. The enhanced bonding between kenaf fiber particles and the PLA matrix contributed to an increase of up to 13.4% for tensile and 15.3% for flexural in the Young's modulus of PLA-PDA-KF composites and an increase of up to 30% in compressive stress. The incorporation of polydopamine as a coupling agent in the FDM filament composite led to an improvement in tensile, compressive, and flexural stresses and strain at break, surpassing that of pure PLA, while the reinforcement provided by kenaf fibers was enhanced more by delayed crack growth, resulting in a higher strain at break. The self-polymerized polydopamine coatings exhibit remarkable mechanical properties, suggesting their potential as a sustainable material for diverse applications in FDM.

Analisis Kekuatan Mekanik Komposit Polimer Diperkuat Serbuk Kulit Kerang

In recent decades, the development of composite material technology has continued to increase rapidly and has been used for various applications as an alternative material to replace metal. In line with growing environmental issues, the utilization of natural materials which are abundant in nature and easy to find is the main priority for composite building materials. In this study, shell powder was used as a reinforcing material for epoxy polymer composites. The aims of this study were to obtain the average compressive, tensile, and flexural strength of shell powder-reinforced polymer composite materials, to calculate the distribution of test results using the PDF method, and to calculate the contribution of shell powder to the mechanical properties mentioned using the ANOVA method. The tensile, compressive, and flexural test specimens follow the test specimen standards of ASTM D638, ASTM D7264, and ASTM D695 respectively. The composition of shell powder consists of 10%, 30%, and 50%. Testing of these mechanical properties using a UTM-type hydraulic test equipment model WEW-300D with a capacity of 300 kN. The test results show an increase in the mechanical properties of the material. The increase occurred in compressive and flexural strength where the composition was given up to 30% and 50%, namely between 120 – 125 MPa. However, increasing the composition of shell powder at 30% and 50% actually resulted in a decrease in tensile strength between 12 – 9 MPa. Finally, based on the results of ANOVA analysis, it was shown that the addition of shell powder as a reinforcement for polymer composites significantly improved their mechanical properties.

Study on the load-end shortening formulae of structural elements including hard corner element considering collapse modes based on test and numerical modelling

This paper focus on improving the load-end shortening formulae of structural elements considering collapse modes and steel grades through experimental and numerical methods. The existing load-end shortening formulae in CSR-H is derived from the buckling theoretical formulae of plates and stiffeners. Stiffener elements deform in different collapse modes under compressive loads, while hard corner elements are assumed as elasto-plastic behaviours, which may obviously overestimate the ultimate load carrying capacity due to the local buckling of plates. Beam–column buckling, torsional buckling and web local buckling for stiffener elements and hard corner elements were designed with different sizes of test specimens in compression tests. After compassion, the minimum and appropriate modelling technology with three stiffener elements and four hard corner elements were proposed to verify the load-end shortening curves of structural elements. A new load-end shortening curve for hard corner elements was developed to calculate the ultimate strength, which could reflect the realistic progressive collapse behaviours under longitudinal compression.

Numerical investigations on mechanical properties of bio-inspired 3D printed geometries using multi-jet fusion process

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to find the best geometries among the cylindrical, enamel and honeycomb geometries based upon the mechanical properties (tensile test, compression test and shear test). Further this obtained geometry could be used to fabricate products like exoskeleton and its supporting members.Design/methodology/approachThe present research focuses on the mechanical testing of cylindrical, enamel and honeycomb-shaped parts fabricated through multi-jet printing (MJP) process with a wall thickness of 0.26, 0.33, 0.4 and 0.66 mm. The polymer specimens (for tensile, compression and shear tests) were fabricated using a multi-jet fusion process. The experimental results were compared with the numerical modelling. Finally, the optimal geometry was obtained, and the influence of wall thicknesses on various mechanical properties (tensile, compression and shear) was studied.FindingsIn comparison to cylindrical, enamel structures the honeycomb structures required less time to fabricate and had lower tensile, compressive and shear strengths. The most efficient geometry for fully functional parts where tensile, compressive and shear forces are present during application – cylindrical geometry is preferred followed by enamel, and then honeycomb. It was found that as the wall thickness of various geometries was increased, their ability to withstand tensile, compressive and shear loads also enhanced. The enamel shape structure exhibits greater strain energy storage capacity than other shape structures for compressive loads, and the strength to resist the compressive load will be lower. In the case of cylindrical geometries for tensile loading, the resisting area toward the loading will be higher in comparison to honeycomb- and enamel-based structures. At the same time, the ability to store the stain energy is less. The results of the tensile, compression and shear load finite element analysis using ANSYS are in agreement with those of the experiments.Originality/valueFrom the insight of literature review, it is found that a wide range of work is done on fused deposition modeling (FDM) process. But in comparison to FDM, the MJP provide the better dimensional accuracy and surface properties (Lee et al., 2020). Therefore, it is observed that past research works not incorporated the effect of wall thickness of the embedded geometries on mechanical properties of the part fabricated on MJP (Gibson, n.d.). Hence, in this work, effect of wall thickness on tensile, compression and shear strength is considered as the main factor for the honeycomb, enamel and cylindrical geometries.

Experimental study on evolution of pore structure of inclined layered cemented tailings backfill based on X-ray CT

In underground backfill mining, the stope usually needs to be filled several times, the cured backfill contains several inclined layered surfaces inside, which leads to the reduction of the overall stability of the backfill due to the existence of layered contact surfaces(LCS). In order to study the influence of inclined layered contact surface on the stability of backfill and its internal macroscopic and microscopic structure evolution law under loading conditions, the specimens of backfill with no layer, two layers, three layers and layered angle of 5° were prepared. Uniaxial compression tests of specimens with the different number of layers and CT real-time scanning tests of three-layered specimen were carried out to quantitatively analyze the porosity and density of layered cemented tailings backfill(LCTB) during compression by the gray value of CT scanning images and other parameters. The results showed that the load-bearing capacity of LCTB decreases with the appearance of the LCS; the higher the number of layers, the lower the uniaxial compressive strength, and all kind of LCTB specimens manifested as tensile failure. Before the compression reaches 70% of the peak stress, the pore and density changes mainly occur at the LCS and middle layer of LCTB, and show the same trend. That is, the porosity increases first and then decreases, and the density decreases and then increases.

Effect of nine-year soil contact on physical performance of crude tall oil impregnated, copper salt impregnated, and non-treated Scots pine posts

ABSTRACT Crude tall oil (CTO), a side product of sulphate pulping, has promising results in moisture and decay resistance. This article reports the Pilodyn indentation hardness, basic density, and mechanical performance of 600-mm long Scots pine posts after a nine-year soil contact test. The material consisted of round and square-shaped CTO-impregnated posts, supplemented by copper salt-impregnated and untreated reference posts. In total, 240 posts were installed in fertile soil in south-eastern Finland in spring 2010. Posts were harvested in May 2019. At the end of the test, 192 posts were in a condition that allowed the preparation of specimens for density and compression tests. Discs were sawn from the ground level, as well as above and below the ground level to measure the density and deformation under static 45,000 N parallel-to-the-grain compression load. Altogether 80% of the untreated control posts were rejected from further tests due to severe decay. Square-shaped control posts had a slightly higher survival rate than the round ones. After a nine-year soil contact, the performance of CTO impregnated. Scots pine posts were clearly better than that of untreated control posts and comparable to that of copper salt-impregnated posts. The study suggests that CTO has a high potential as a non-biocide wood preservative even in structures in soil contact.

Experimental Study of Rock-like Materials with Two Unequal Parallel Preexisting Fissures under Uniaxial Compression

Fissures substantially impact the engineering stability of rock masses, making research on rock masses with preexisting fissures essential for engineering activities. The development of specimens with different preexisting fissure types was examined in this study. Three different types of specimens with preexisting fissures can be broadly categorized: specimens with few preexisting fissures, specimens with multiple preexisting fissures, and specimens with preexisting fissures and other flaws. Uniaxial compression tests of specimens with preexisting fissures of two unequal lengths were conducted, and the influence of preexisting fissure angle, the distance between the two fissures and fissure length on the peak strength and coalescence mode of specimens were analyzed. A large preexisting fissure length significantly influenced the peak strength and coalescence, and the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) values of the rock-like materials decreased. In contrast, increasing the long preexisting fissure length influenced the crack propagation and coalescence more extensively in the case of a long preexisting fissure. The preexisting fissure angle and two preexisting fissure distances had a negligible effect on the UCS values of the rock-like materials. However, with increasing long preexisting fissure length, the short preexisting fissure was subject to crack propagation and coalescence.

Laboratory investigation on the failure characteristics of rock-like materials with fully closed non-persistent joints

Due to dynamic geological conditions, a non-persistent joint network in a fully closed state is often developed in a rock mass, which will seriously affect the cracking process and strength characteristics of the rock mass after excavation and exposure. To reveal the weakening mechanism of closed non-persistent joints in terms of the rock mass strength and the resulting weakening degree, a “layered and embedded pouring” method for preparing rock-like specimens with closed non-persistent joints is proposed and verified, which overcomes the restriction of specimen preparation technology in research on laboratory testing of the mechanical properties of specimens with fully closed non-persistent joints. On this basis, uniaxial compression testing of specimens with closed non-persistent joint sets of different geometric characteristics is carried out. It is found that the joint orientation is the main factor controlling the failure mode of specimens. With increasing joint dip angle, the failure mode changes from splitting failure to stepped failure, planar failure and, finally, splitting failure. The strength anisotropy characteristics show a typical “U” shape; the strength of jointed specimens with a 0° dip angle is greater than that with a 90° dip angle, and the center of the distribution of dip angles corresponding to the minimum specimen strength is greater than 45°. This result is related to the friction characteristics of the joint surfaces, and the corresponding failure mode is stepped failure. Finally, by comparing the failure characteristics of specimens with a single open non-persistent joint and a set of such joints, the difference in the anisotropic weakening mechanisms and degrees of rock strength caused by fully closed and open joints are further revealed, which provides clearer differential cognition for establishing the strength theory of rock masses with non-persistent joints in different contact states.

Strong and Lightweight Stereolithographically 3D-Printed Polymer Nanocomposites with Low Friction and High Toughness.

Strong and lightweight polymer nanocomposites with low friction, high toughness, and complex shapes were obtained for the first time through an affordable stereolithographic 3D printer, using low amounts of TiO2 nanoparticles. Tridimensional solid structures (i.e., tensile bars, compressive test specimens, gyroid-type structures, and dense lattices) were obtained. Herein, we found that the compressive stress, compressive strain, yield strength, and toughness corresponding to 3D-printed polymer nanocomposites were simultaneously increased—which is uncommon—using low amounts (0.4 wt.%) of TiO2 nanoparticles. Furthermore, we obtained lightweight cylindrical structures exhibiting high resistance to compression with a low friction coefficient (µ~0.2), and the printability of complex and hollow structures was demonstrated.

Influences of Surface, Heat Treatment, and Print Orientation on the Anisotropy of the Mechanical Properties and the Impact Strength of Ti 6Al 4V Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

The scope of this work is to provide an overview of the influences of process parameters, print orientation, and post-process treatments of Ti6AlV4 processed by laser powder bed fusion on its microstructure and physical and mechanical properties and their anisotropic behavior. To avoid the influence of changes in powder quality and ensure comparability, experiments were carried out using a single batch of virgin powder. First, characterization of the density and surface roughness was performed to optimize the process parameters utilizing design of experiment. Tensile, notched bar impact and compression test specimens were built in three different orientations: vertically, horizontally, and inclined at 45° to the build plate. Later, the influence of the staircase effect and the possible course of anisotropy from vertical to horizontal were investigated. Subsequently, heat treatments for stress relief, furnace annealing, and hot isostatic pressing were performed. In addition to as-built samples, mechanical machining and a two-step electrochemical polishing surface treatment were applied to investigate the influence of the surface roughness. With parameter optimization, a relative density of 99.8% was achieved, and surface roughness was improved over default parameters, reducing Ra by up to 7 µm. Electrochemical polishing is a viable way to decrease the surface roughness. An Ra value of 1 µm and an Rz value of 4 µm can be achieved for 45° downskin surfaces with as-built surface roughness values of Ra 24 µm and Rz 117 µm. As-built and stress-relieved conditions show little anisotropy in their yield and tensile strength (max 2.7%), but there is a strong influence of the build orientation on necking, and brittle fracture behavior is shown due to the martensitic microstructure (up to 70%). Heat treatment can increase the ductility and further decrease the strength anisotropy with both furnace annealing and hot isostatic pressing delivering similar results for tensile properties, while angled samples exhibit behavior that is closer to vertical than horizontal, indicating a non-linear change in break behavior. Electrochemical polishing increases fracture necking, and its isotropy drastically increases from 4% to over 30% compared with as-built parts, which is close to the level of the machined specimen.

Effect of the in situ leaching solution of ion-absorbed rare earth on the mechanical behavior of basement rock

A clear understanding of the evolution characteristics of leaching solution's damage to the basement rock of ion-adsorbed rare earth deposits is essential in the in situ leaching mining. In this study, some laboratory tests were carried out to investigate the deterioration behavior and failure mechanism of rock under the erosion of leaching solution. For this purpose, granite specimens were soaked in the leaching solution for different periods and then some physical and mechanical parameters were measured. The experimental results show that the strength of the rock without any soaking is the maximum. After 60 d, the rock strength, mass (dry) and P-wave velocity (dry) decrease to the minimum, while the porosity of the specimens reaches the maximum. Moreover, the failure pattern of the specimens in the uniaxial compression tests is affected as the soaking time increases. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image results indicate that the erosion of quartz crystals inside the rock specimens gets more intense with the increase of soaking time. Also, the internal crystal failure mode gradually changes from the trans-granular to the inter-granular. The insights gained from this study are helpful for better understanding the evolution characteristics of leaching solution's damage to the basement rock of ion-adsorbed rare earth deposits.

Effect of Printing Orientation and Layer Thickness on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of PLA Parts

Due to the layer-by-layer printing process, additively manufactured objects frequently display directional dependencies in their structure. It affects the material properties of the fabricated parts concerning various process parameters of the machine. This paper presents the effect of layer thickness and printing orientation on the mechanical properties and microstructure of polylactic acid (PLA)3D printed parts fabricated by Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). Computer-aided design models of a tensile and compression test specimen were created, conforming to the ASTM: D638 (Type 1 and Type IV) and ASTM D695, respectively. The microstructure was evaluated using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) on the fracture surface during the tensile test and optical microscopy on the compression specimens. The finding shows that a low layer thickness setting contributes to the highest tensile strength in the 0° printing orientation, while a medium and high layer thickness results in a better tensile strength for a 45° and 90° printing orientation. Therefore, printing orientation is more influential than layer thickness in the tensile test. As for the compressive strength, the stress decreases when the layer thickness increases and the low layer thickness setting offers the highest compressive strength at all printing orientations. The microstructure shows more significant interlayer gaps, incomplete filling, and weak bonding on the cross-sectional samples of the fractured tensile surface with lower strength. The 0° printing orientation offers better tensile strength for all layer thicknesses, minimum build time, and good compressive strength compared to other printing orientations.

Planning Of Highquality Concrete Mixtures With Additional Superplasticizer And The Effect Of Partial Cement Replacement With Fly Ash

Various studies and experiments in the field of concrete were carried out as an effort to improve the quality of concrete, material technology and implementation techniques obtained from the results of these studies and experiments were intended to answer the increasingly high demands on the use of concrete and overcome the obstacles that often occur in the implementation of the work. in the field. One way to increase the strength of concrete is to increase its compaction, which is to minimize the pores or cavities that form in the concrete. The use of admixtures can help solve these problems. The purpose of this study was to obtain the compressive strength of high-strength concrete and to determine the effect of the replacement of fly ash and the addition of a superplasticizer on the compressive strength of concrete. The composition of the Supeplasticizer mixture used in this study was 0.6% for all variations and the replacement of fly ash was 0%, 20%, 25%, 30% and 35% of the cement weight. The test object used was cylindrical in shape, the planned concrete quality was 65 MPa which was tested at the age of 28 days with treatment prior to testing. This study tested concrete with cylindrical specimens for compression test (diameter 150 mm and height 300 mm) as many as 50 samples and consisted of 5 variations and each variation was 10 samples. From the research, it was found that the highest compressive strength of concrete was found in the 20% Fly Ash replacement concrete mixture, which was 59.095 MPa and the lowest concrete compressive strength was found in the 30% Fly Ash replacement concrete mixture, which was 42.927 MPa. That with the replacement of 20% Fly Ash has a higher compressive strength compared to other Fly Ash mixed concrete variations. Mixture with a high degree of workability has a great risk of bleeding, this occurs in all concrete samples.

Deformation Mechanics of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Specimens in Tensile and Compression Tests 1. Theoretical and Experimental Methods for Determining the Mechanical Characteristics and the Parameters of Stress-Strain State

Deformation Mechanics of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Specimens in Tensile and Compression Tests 1. Theoretical and Experimental Methods for Determining the Mechanical Characteristics and the Parameters of Stress-Strain State

Experimental Study on Uniaxial Compression Fracture Process of Marble Specimens with Circular Holes with Different Diameters

After a long period of geological tectonic action, the rock mass develops defects such as pores and fissures of different sizes and scales. The mechanical properties of the rock are largely affected by these discontinuous structures, and there will be obvious stress concentration at the edge of the hole inside the rock. Under the action of concentrated stress, cracks initiate, expand, and penetrate from the edge of the hole to form the final fracture surface and cause instability and failure of the rock mass. In practical engineering, due to the limitation of various factors, it is impossible to conduct uniaxial compressive strength test for each geotechnical engineering. Therefore, the rock in the weak part of the project can be selected as the test specimen before the indoor physical tests. In this paper, the static uniaxial compression test of specimens with circular holes with different diameters is carried out. Digital Image Correlation (DIC) monitoring system is used to observe the test process in real time; then, the data from uniaxial compression test and DIC monitoring test are obtained. At the same time, the macroscopic failure characteristics and crack propagation law of rock specimens are obtained, and the evolution law of strain field during the failure process of rock specimens is also obtained. Meanwhile, Realistic Failure Process Analysis (RFPA) is carried out to verify the accuracy of static uniaxial compression physical tests numerically. Physical tests show that the uniaxial compressive strength of marble specimens with circular holes and the dispersion of measured peak stress data decrease with the increase of hole diameter. The main failure type of marble specimens with circular holes is tension shear failure; the macroscopic failure zone of the sample, the strain field localization zone, and the maximum shear stress field of the numerical test are distributed in a semi-“X” shape with the hole as the center. The localization zone of the strain field on the specimen is usually the region of crack initiation, propagation, and penetration on the surface of the marble specimens. It also shows that specimen breaks in the radial direction along the y -axis of the circular hole, and cracks connecting both ends of the circular hole and the specimen are generated on the specimen. It is of great theoretical value and practical significance to the influence of the cavities in the rock specimens on the stress and strain characteristics and the initiation, propagation, and penetration modes.

Improvement on Tensile Properties of Epoxy Resin Matrix Sugarcane Fiber and Tamarind Seed Powder Reinforced Hybrid Bio-Composites

Nowadays, hybrid bio-composites are being developed by combining different natural resources as reinforcement and filler components, and this has raised their necessary qualities dramatically. Sugarcane fibre and tamarind seed powder particles added to an epoxy resin matrix to test the material's tensile strength were the focus of this study. A reinforcing material is sugarcane fibre, while filler components include tamarind seed powder particles. Different reinforcement and filler materials were used to make hybrid bio-composite specimens, while the epoxy resin weight percentage was maintained constant. Utilizing the hot press compression moulding technology, hybrid bio-composite boards were manufactured from start to finish. Water jet machining is used to remove hybrid bio-composite specimens for compression tests in accordance with ASTM standards from the hybrid bio-composite boards. It has been shown in experiments, for example, that adding tamarind seed powder particles to a sugarcane fiber/epoxy resin matrix considerably increases the hybrid bio-composites' tensile characteristics.

Compressive Behavior of Tamarind Shell Powder and Fine Granite Particles Reinforced Epoxy Matrix Based Hybrid Bio-Composites

Nowadays, hybrid bio-composites are being developed by combining different natural resources as reinforcement and filler components, and this has raised their necessary qualities dramatically. An epoxy resin matrix for compressive qualities was tested experimentally with the inclusion of fine granite powder and tamarind shell powder particles. As reinforcement materials, fine granite powder and tamarind shell powder are employed. Specimens of hybrid bio-composite were created by altering the reinforcement material weight % while maintaining the epoxy resin weight percentage the same. Utilizing a compression moulding process, composite boards made of hybrid biomaterials were created. Water jet machining is used to remove hybrid bio-composite specimens for compression tests in accordance with ASTM standards from the hybrid bio-composite boards. When fine granite and tamarind shell powder particles are added to the epoxy resin matrix, experimental results show that compressive characteristics of the hybrid bio-composites are greatly improved.

Studies on the Ageing of Cement Stabilized Rammed Earth Material in Different Exposure Conditions.

This paper aims to test the deterioration of cement stabilized rammed earth and consider its characteristics during its lifespan in various exposure conditions. Both visual and mechanical properties were tested to determine the impact of long-term exposure to natural weather conditions. Cemented stabilized rammed earth is a variation of the traditional rammed earth building material which has been used since ancient history and is strengthened by the addition of stabilizers in the form of Portland cement. This article analyzes the long-term properties of wall panels made of this material, which were subjected to varying exposure conditions for five years. After this period, compression tests of specimens cut from panels stored in various environmental conditions were carried out. Based on the results and visual properties of the specimens, long-term changes in unconfined compressive strength were observed and primary durability attributes were described. Despite minimal visible wear to the external layers of the wall panels, the natural weather conditions proved to deteriorate material strength characteristics, especially on specimens with high cement content. No correlation between visual characteristics and compressive strength measures were found. The present study is vital in adequately describing cement stabilized rammed earth behavior in natural weather conditions typical of a humid continental climate.

Mechanical characterization of areca fine fiber fabric (AFFF) reinforced epoxy composites

As the population grows, natural fibers are being used more frequently; as a result the use of natural fibers and agricultural waste has increased. Agricultural wastes, such as: arecanut husk fiber, banana fiber, and bamboo fiber, can be used to produce composite building materials. Arecanut husk fiber is the most abundantly available natural fiber. Arecanut fine fiber fabric (AFFF) is obtained from the arecanut shell. AFFF is broadly applicable in a variety of industries, including construction, marine structure, automobile, and aircraft. The current research focuses on the mechanical characteristics of composite panels, AFFF-mat preparation, and composite panel casting. A mat is prepared by a fine fiber treated with 6% of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The composite panel used in this study was made by combining AFFF-mat and epoxy resin with hardener by hand lay-up method. The tensile and compression tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of AFFF. SEM analysis was conducted to examine the failure of composite elements. The tensile and compression strength of composites obtained was 10.82 MPa and 55.614 MPa respectively. The average Young’s modulus obtained for tensile and compression test specimens were 4.98 GPa and 7.675 GPa respectively.

Assessment of South African Chromite Sand for Binder Jetting Application

Binder Jetting is an Additive manufacturing (AM) technique in which binding liquid is jetted on layers of powdered materials, selectively according to the Computer Aided Design (CAD) model to form a 3D part. One of the applications of binder jetting technology is the manufacturing of sand moulds for sand casting known as Rapid Sand Casting. Silica sand is often used in both Rapid Sand Casting and traditional moulding due to its good refractory properties coupled with its low cost. However, the use of silica sand is associated with some technical limitations, including its high thermal linear expansion and low conductivity, hence it is not appropriate to all casting applications. Chromite sand is used as an alternative refractory material to address the shortcomings of silica sand. This study assessed the suitability of South African Chromite sand for rapid sand casting. Tensile bending and compression test specimens were manufactured from different South African chromite sand samples using a Voxeljet VX 3D printer. The mechanical properties of the specimen produced using binder jetting were compared to those produced by traditional moulding. It was observed that all five printed specimens met the minimum tensile strength of 220 N/cm2 for casting. Hence locally sourced South African Chromite sand can be utilised for rapid sand casting, reducing environmental impact and operational cost.