Fracture characterization and modeling of Gyroid filled 3D printed PLA structures

Abstract

Abstract Polylactic acid (PLA) is a commonly used biodegradable material in medical and increasingly in industrial applications. These materials are often exposed to various flaws and faults due to working and production conditions, and increasing the demand for PLA for various applications requires a full understanding of its fracture behavior. In addition to ABS, PLA is a widely used polymeric material in 3D printing. The gyroid type of filling is advantageous for overcoming the relatively higher brittleness of PLA in comparison with conventional thermoplastic polymers. In this study, the effects of various filling ratios on the fracture toughness of 3D printed PLA samples with gyroid pattern were investigated numerically and experimentally for pure mode I, combined mode I/II, and pure mode II. Two-dimensional finite element modeling was created, and the two-dimensional functions of stress intensity coefficients were extracted in loading mode I, mode I/II, and mode II at varied filling ratios of the gyroid PLA samples. Mixed-mode fracture tests for 3D printed PLA samples with a gyroid pattern at various filling ratios were performed by using a specially developed fracture testing fixture. The results showed that the amount of fracture toughness of the samples under study in tensile mode was much higher than those values in shear mode. Also, as the percentages of the filling ratios in the samples increased, both tensile and shear fracture toughness improved.