Evaluation of Infill Effect on Mechanical Properties of Consumer 3D Printing Materials

Abstract

During the additive manufacturing “boom” of the last decade, consumer level 3D printers have kept pace with commercial/industrial printers, both in numbers and features. However, in material characterization data, the access to date for the consumer has significantly lagged behind. Consumer level 3D printers provide a significant asset to entrepreneurs, small businesses, universities, college students, and hobbyists due to the low initial capital cost and relatively low operational costs. Commercial grade 3D printers and the associated filaments sold for their use typically have well documented material properties and print parameters. Consumer 3D printers, however, typically have limited or no access to mechanical test data for their materials. This paper describes the work of the authors to fill the existing knowledge gap in the mechanical properties of consumer level 3D printer filament. ASTM Tensile (D638) tests were performed on samples produced by two commercially available 3D printers. The materials tested include PLA, ABS, PETG, various nylons, Polycarbonate/ABS, and ASA filaments. Samples were printed with infill percentages ranging from 15% to 100% to test for tensile properties.