Experimental and numerical analysis for the mechanical characterization of PETG polymers manufactured with FDM technology under pure uniaxial compression stress states for architectural applications
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2020-09-25
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mdpi
Resumen
This paper presents the numerical and experimental analysis performed on the polymeric
material Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) manufactured with Fused Deposition Modeling
Technology (FDM) technology, aiming at obtaining its mechanical characterization under uniaxial
compression loads. Firstly, with the objective of evaluating the printing direction that poses a greater
mechanical strength, eighteen test specimens were manufactured and analyzed according to the
requirements of the ISO-604 standards. After that, a second experimental test analyzed the mechanical
behavior of an innovative structural design manufactured in Z and X–Y directions under uniaxial
compression loads according to the requirements of the Spanish CTE standard. The experimental
results point to a mechanical linear behavior of PETG in X, Y and Z manufacturing directions up to
strain levels close to the yield strength point. SEM micrographs show di erent structural failures
linked to the specimen manufacturing directions. Test specimens manufactured along X present a
brittle fracture caused by a delamination process. On the contrary, test specimens manufactured
along X and Y directions show permanent plastic deformations, great flexibility and less strength
under compression loads. Two numerical analyses were performed on the structural part using
Young’s compression modulus obtained from the experimental tests and the load specifications
required for the Spanish CTE standards. The comparison between numerical and experimental
results presents a percentage of relative error of 2.80% (Z-axis), 3.98% (X-axis) and 3.46% (Y-axis),
which allows characterizing PETG plastic material manufactured with FDM as an isotropic material
in the numerical simulation software without modifying the material modeling equations in the data
software. The research presented here is of great help to researchers working with polymers and
FDM technology for companies that might need to numerically simulate new designs with the PETG
polymer and FDM technology.
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PETG, FDM, mechanical performance, design, polymeric materials modeling, polymer simulation, Finite Element Method (FEM)