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Fracture testing of polymer materials processed via fused filament fabrication: a survey of materials, methods, and design applications

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Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) provides a wide range of design freedoms, enabling engineers to create complex geometries. However, due to the inherent nature of the manufacturing process, defects are introduced in the material during AM. These defects may develop into cracks and lead to failure of the system at lower loads than predicted from datasheets for traditionally manufactured materials. Thus, it is essential for design engineers to understand fracture properties of AM materials. The fracture mechanics can provide valuable inputs for design-related decision making (for both material design and macro-scale product design) to minimize possibility of failure. This article collected and reviewed the relevant literature on fracture testing of AM-fabricated polymer materials. Information on the testing methods used, the materials and processes, and the standards followed were collected and discussed in terms of their impact on design perspectives. In addition to collecting a dataset and establishing the state-of-the-art, this article identified opportunities and areas that need further studies, discussed design-centric interpretations of AM polymer fracture data, and provided recommendations on how to improve future studies and ensure the data is useful for consideration during engineering design.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Yong Hoon Lee, Tais Rocha Pereira, and Ghulam Hussain for their help, discussion, and support of the work presented in this article. No conflicts of interest exist for any of the authors related to the conduction or publication of this work. All opinions and conclusions are solely those of the authors. This research was partially supported (I.J. and C.C.) by National Science Foundation grant MOM-1926353.

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  1. Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 Transportation Building, 104 South Mathews Ave, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA

    Albert E. Patterson & James T. Allison

  2. Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA

    Charul Chadha & Iwona M. Jasiuk

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  1. Albert E. Patterson
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Patterson, A.E., Chadha, C., Jasiuk, I.M. et al. Fracture testing of polymer materials processed via fused filament fabrication: a survey of materials, methods, and design applications. Prog Addit Manuf 6, 765–780 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-021-00196-0

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