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Exploring Flexural Performances of Fused Filament Fabrication 3D-Printed ABS and ABS-Composites through Innovative Bio-Inspired Processing Parameter Optimization

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Abstract

Taking crustacean organisms in nature as prototypes helps improve the design of protective gears. Drawing inspiration from the high-damage-tolerance helical-structured cuticle of the American crayfish, we conduct an optimization of processing parameters for Fused Filament Fabrication 3D printing products. Various values of in-plane raster angle and interlayer thickness are employed to replicate the damage-resistant feature mimicked from nature. The effect of flexural resistances on 3D-printed three-point bending specimens is being investigated using a combination of four helical printing raster angles at four different layer thicknesses. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and glass fiber-reinforced ABS (ABS-GF) are employed as material models. A Dino-lite handheld microscope and a Keyence VHX-7000 optical microscope are used to characterize the microstructure of the samples’ fracture resistance after the three-point bending test. Explanations of the mechanism of fracture resistance for helical structures are given. The results show that the specimen with a layer thickness of 0.04 mm and a spiral angle of 30° has the highest bending strength and bending elastic modulus among all the tested specimens. When compared with the layer thickness of 0.16 mm, the bending strength and bending elastic modulus of the ABS helix specimen with a layer thickness of 0.04 mm are increased by 6.45% and 2.67%, and those of the ABS-GF helix specimen are increased by 21.21% and 10.03%, respectively. The microstructural observation of the samples reveals that the spiral specimens with a helix angle of 11.25° have a greater displacement of crack propagation to resist the damage extending inside when resisting fracture. Our bio-inspired study presents an alternative approach to comprehensively optimize FFF printing parameters for enhanced mechanical performance.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52101381), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M730455), the Department of Education of Liaoning Province (LJKMZ20220366), and the Dalian Human Resources and Social Security Bureau (Dalian City innovation and entrepreneurship support program for returned overseas students of Year-2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, Liaoning, China

    Zhaogui Wang & Kexuan Zhou

  2. Houston International Institute, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, Liaoning, China

    Cheng** Bi

Authors
  1. Zhaogui Wang
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  2. Kexuan Zhou
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  3. Cheng** Bi
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Contributions

Zhaogui Wang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.Kexuan Zhou: Writing – original draft, Experiments, Software, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing.Cheng** Bi: Experiments, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing.

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Correspondence to Zhaogui Wang.

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Highlights

• A crayfish-like biomimetic helical structure is adopted in constructing the interlayer formation of fused filament fabrication 3D-printed parts.

• Different helical angles combined with different deposited layer thicknesses are selected in the preparation of 3D printing three-point bending test specimens made of virgin ABS and its glass-fiber-filled composite.

• Bending test results indicated that the helical-structured interlayers can notably prevent the crack propagation of the printed parts, as compared to commonly printed alternatives.

• A smaller value of the layer thickness yields a higher degree of flexural resistance in the 3D-printed parts, while the bio-inspired helical formation itself does not contribute to the flexural strength increment as compared to the layer thickness parameter.

Appendix

Appendix

1.1 Layer-thickness Precision Study

To ensure the prescribed layer thickness values can be achieved by the employed FFF 3D printer. We perform additional measurements on the layer thickness of the printed specimens. After polishing and smoothing the cross section of the specimens (unidirectional line infill), the Keyence VHX-7000 optical microscope was used to observe the layer thickness of ABS material. Figure 21 provides an example of the measurement, where the cross section of the layer thickness of 0.04 mm, 0.08 and 0.10 mm was observed with 500 × multiple, and the layer thickness of 0.16 mm was observed with 300 × multiple. As seen in Table 3, we selected a series of photographs to count (15 times/ layer-thickness) and calculate the average value and error rate. The accuracy error rate of 40 μm printing layer thickness is 2.33%, which can prove its manufacturing accuracy.

As composite beads exhibit a smaller trend of extrudate die swell as compared to the virgin polymers [55, 56], we would expect that the ABS-GF specimens can also achieve favorable layer thickness precision as did in ABS specimens, and for conciseness, we only added additional experiments on ABS only.

Fig. 21
figure 21

Microscopic imaging of interfaces: a ABS-004; b ABS-008; c ABS-010; d ABS-016

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Table 3 Validation on the printed layer thickness comparting to prescribed values
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1.2 Mesh Sensitivity Study

We need to consider both time and accuracy based on the detailed division of the grid and the appropriate division of the model. As shown in Fig. 22, we also use 0.5-1 mm, 0.75-1.5 mm, 1.25-2 mm, 1.5-2.5 mm (fine grid to rough grid) grid cell size to divide the sample model, and the grid direction is rough grid to fine grid. The simulation results show that the rougher the grid is, the shorter the time of the simulation results is, and the less accurate the stress distribution is, and the overall state of the stress results after the division of these grid elements is convergent. For the loading roller, the mesh size only needs to be within the range of the sample model mesh, and the simulation results are not much different. As shown in Fig. 23, we use the general mesh size of 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.6 and 0.7 mm to divide the loading roller model and simulate it in turn. The simulation results are shown in the figure, and the difference in stress results is very small.

Fig. 22
figure 22

Quasi-static stress cloud diagram of bending specimens with different mesh sizes: a SH-11.25-0.5-1 mm; b SH-11.25-0.75-1.5 mm; c SH-11.25-1.25-2 mm; d SH-11.25-1.5-2.5 mm

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Fig. 23
figure 23

Quasi-static stress cloud diagram of bending specimens under different grid sizes loading rollers: a SH-11.25-0.3 mm; b SH-11.25-0.4 mm; c SH-11.25-0.6 mm; d SH-11.25-0.7 mm

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Wang, Z., Zhou, K. & Bi, C. Exploring Flexural Performances of Fused Filament Fabrication 3D-Printed ABS and ABS-Composites through Innovative Bio-Inspired Processing Parameter Optimization. Appl Compos Mater 31, 929–958 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-023-10191-z

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