Deposition direction dependent failure criteria for FDM ABS

Purpose: The study explores the dependence of material properties and failure criteria for fused deposition modeling (FDM) Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) on raster orientation. Design/Methodology/Approach: Compression tests were conducted on a range of cylindrical specimens at raster angles between 0 to 90 degrees in 10 degree increments. Specimens were manufactured with the raster angle held constant during the manufacturing of each specimen. That is, the adjacent layers stayed at the same angle throughout the production of each specimen. The compressive yield strength and Young???s modulus are calculated and analyzed for each specimen, from which the dependence of the material???s mechanical properties is analyzed. Findings: Compression tests were conducted on all specimens and different failure mechanisms were observed depending on the raster orientation. Force vs. displacement graphs were then generated for each specimen, from which the mechanical properties were found and analyzed. Originality/Value: This study provides valuable experimental data for FDM ABS and provides micro-mechanisms of failure that suggest explanations for angular variation of strength with raster orientation. The analysis methods which have been used for composites seem to be applicable to FDM Polycarbonate, which in fact leads us to expect that the same analysis methods will apply to FDM ABS as well. If this indeed turns out to be the case, this work will provide a powerful tool for determining the service loads that this important class of materials can tolerate