Tensile analysis of 3D printer filaments

The objective of this research is to characterize the materials which has been produced by a 3D printing technology, namely Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). All of the chosen materials are reinforced by another material (e.g. glass fiber or metal powder), and the reinforced material is present in different weight fractions. Like the 3D printing technologies in general, FDM builds up the speciments layer by layer following a predefined orientation, and the main assumption is that the materials are behaving similarly to laminates formed by orthotropic layers. Great emphasis must be put on the selection of the appropriate quality filaments, therefore fist the material properties of the fibers were examined. The first testing method was tensile strength analysis, which has been followed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to observe francture surfaces. After SEM analysis, it became clear that the morphology of the fibers are material dependent. This answer was given by the microstructure of the filaments. The difference as well as the diverse types of the fibers explains the variability in material properties among the examined test materials.