Experimental and Numerical Investigations of 3D Printed Onyx Parts

International audienceNowadays, 3D printing is playing an increasingly important role in the manufacturing processes of various industries. Consequently, mechanical characterization and numerical simulation of 3D printed parts have become priorities. The objective of this study is to propose a simulation approach for 3D-printed parts that considers two essential parameters: part positioning on the printing platform and the number of walls in the part. Experimental investigations on these parameters were conducted to understand their respective influences on the mechanical properties of the parts. Tensile testing results revealed that the part positioning on the printing platform plays a crucial role in the mechanical properties. For instance, vertical positioning exhibited a nearly brittle behavior, while flat and lateral positioning showed ductile mechanical behaviors. Experimental results also showed that the Young's modulus of vertical specimens (ZX) was higher than that of lateral specimens (XZ) and flat specimens (XY). The process was qualified by introducing an anisotropy coefficient, whose estimated value revealed that the process was highly anisotropic. Investigations on the number of walls demonstrated that a higher number of walls in a specimen increased its mechanical properties. Based on these results, a numerical simulation approach based on the finite element method has been proposed, which takes into account both the positioning of the parts and the number of walls