Experimental investigation on influence of printing parameters on mechanical behaviors of 3D printed parts

This study aimed to investigate the effects of production parameters on mechanical properties of the parts that are produced using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETG) filament in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique. For this purpose, a 3-axis 3D printer was used to fabricate the samples. The samples were fabricated at five different infill ratios (%20, %40, %60, %80, %100) and eight different infill patterns (Archimedes, 3D Honeycomb, Octogram Spiral, Gyroid, Triangle, Rectilinear, Honeycomb, Concentric). Uniaxial tensile and three-point bending experiments were performed to analyze mechanical responses of the samples, in accordance with ASTM D638 and ASTM D790 international standards, respectively. Additionally, the damaged samples were examined to understand fracture mechanisms. The results showed that the examined parameters had remarkable effects on mechanical behaviors. The increment in infill ratio led to increase in the strength of samples as a result of increase in the material amount. The Concentric pattern exhibited the highest tensile strength and flexural strength found as 49.82 MPa and 77.37 MPa at 100% infill ratio, respectively. However, the lowest tensile strength was obtained from the Triangle pattern with 13.77 MPa at 20% infill, and the lowest flexural strength was obtained from the 3D Honeycomb pattern at 20% infill. The results demonstrated the printing parameters for the parts fabricated using PETG filaments should be carefully chosen.