Process–Structure–Property Relationship Development in Large-Format Additive Manufacturing: Fiber Alignment and Ultimate Tensile Strength
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Coordinate System
2.2. Print and Printer Specifications—Process
2.3. Fiber Alignment Microstructure
2.3.1. X-ray Microscopy
2.3.2. Image Analysis
2.4. Density Image Analysis—Meso-Structure
2.5. Mechanical Testing—Property
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Fiber Alignment Process to Microstructure Relationship Development
3.1.1. X-ray Microscopy
3.1.2. Image Analysis
3.2. Validation of 2D Discrete Image Analysis—Microstructure Technique Comparison
3.3. Mechanical Testing—Process to Property Relationship Development
Tensile Isotropy Analysis
3.4. Fiber Alignment and Tensile Strength—Structure to Property Relationship Development
3.5. Density Image Analysis to Ultimate Tensile Strength—Micro- and Meso-Structure to Property
4. Conclusions
- The use of density-based segmentation methods alone for XRM is not applicable to this composite polymer system, and a deep learning model needed to be applied for proper segmentation.
- For all the EMs tested, both XRM and image analysis methods showed a decrease in fiber alignment in the direction of deposition as the EM increases, as predicted.
- For the utilized thresholding techniques, the image analysis method is validated for predicting linear trend behavior by the XRM analysis via a Monte Carlo simulation to account for uncertainty bounds. Further comparison and an increased number of data points could produce a thinner distribution of possible slopes and further validate the image analysis method.
- For all the EMs testeds, as the EM increased, the tensile anisotropy of the dogbones decreased.
- The injection-molded samples had a higher ultimate tensile strength than the estimated isotropic additively manufactured ultimate tensile strength.
- The fiber alignment did not have the expected relationship reported in the literature with the ultimate tensile strength in the direction of deposition. This is possibly due to the relationship between the EM and mesoscale printing-induced features, such as the void content.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
MEX | Material extrusion |
UTS | Ultimate tensile strength |
LFAM | Large-format additive manufacturing |
SFT | Short fiber thermoplastics |
SF | Short fibers |
XRM | X-ray microscopy |
Tg | Glass transition temperature |
EM | Extrusion multiplier |
PLA | Polylactic acid |
Tmelt | Nozzle temperature, last heat band temperature before extrusion |
CAD | Computer-aided design |
ROI | Region of interest |
Appendix A. Dogbone Specimens
Appendix B. Uncertainty Estimations
Appendix B.1. Ultimate Tensile Strength
Appendix C. Percent Difference Calculations
EM | Perpendicular to Deposition (psi) | Parallel to Deposition (psi) | Percent Difference (%) | Uncertainty (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
0.8 | 24.32 | 213.69 | 159.13 | 32.63 |
0.9 | 84.22 | 236.40 | 94.93 | 17.10 |
1.0 | 108.37 | 214.67 | 65.81 | 31.35 |
1.1 | 188.63 | 234.15 | 21.54 | 23.80 |
1.2 * | 217.16 | 235.54 | 8.12 | 14.40 |
Appendix D. Portions of XRM Processing Script: MATLAB
Appendix E. Monte Carlo Simulation Script
Appendix F. Image Processing for Load Bearing Cross-Section
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Extrusion Multiplier | Polymer (%) | Pore (%) | Fiber (%) |
---|---|---|---|
0.8 | 87.20 | 5.42 | 7.37 |
0.9 | 82.84 | 4.64 | 12.52 |
1.0 | 85.56 | 5.42 | 9.03 |
1.1 | 83.67 | 5.71 | 10.62 |
1.2 | 84.44 | 5.63 | 9.65 |
Average | 84.74 | 5.36 | 9.84 |
Standard Deviation | 1.53 | 0.38 | 1.71 |
Extrusion Multiplier | Direction of Deposition (% ± 5%) | Perpendicular to Deposition (% ± 5%) |
---|---|---|
0.8 | 95.21 | 4.79 |
0.9 | 93.54 | 6.46 |
1.0 | 87.76 | 12.30 |
1.1 | 85.76 | 14.24 |
1.2 | 81.78 | 18.22 |
Extrusion Multiplier | Direction of Deposition (%) | Perpendicular to Deposition (%) | Standard Deviation (%) |
---|---|---|---|
0.8 | 85.11 | 14.89 | 1.53 |
0.9 | 74.95 | 25.05 | 0.91 |
1.0 | 72.70 | 27.30 | 1.80 |
1.1 | 70.01 | 29.99 | 2.52 |
1.2 | 60.88 | 39.12 | 5.96 |
Permutations | Image Analysis Mean Slope () | X-ray Microscopy Mean Slope () | Overlap |
---|---|---|---|
10 | −53.35 | −34.54 | Yes |
100 | −53.90 | −32.81 | Yes |
1000 | −53.58 | −34.85 | Yes |
10,000 | −53.51 | −34.70 | Yes |
Orientation | Slope () | Standard Error | |
---|---|---|---|
Perpendicular to deposition | 490.10 | 0.97 | 18.09 |
Parallel to deposition | 41.44 | 0.13 | 25.01 |
Analysis | Orientation | Slope () | RMSE | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Image analysis linear regression | Perpendicular | −8.50 | 0.89 | 24 |
to deposition | ||||
Parallel to | −1.08 | 0.24 | 11.7 | |
to deposition | ||||
XRM linear regression | Perpendicular | −13.47 | 0.90 | 22.8 |
to deposition | ||||
Parallel to | −0.62 | 0.04 | 13.2 | |
to deposition |
Extrusion Multiplier | Load-Bearing Cross-Section (%) |
---|---|
0.8 | 84.2 |
0.9 | 92.6 |
1.0 | 98.5 |
1.1 | 99.3 |
1.2 | 99.8 |
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Slattery, L.K.; McClelland, Z.B.; Hess, S.T. Process–Structure–Property Relationship Development in Large-Format Additive Manufacturing: Fiber Alignment and Ultimate Tensile Strength. Materials 2024, 17, 1526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17071526
Slattery LK, McClelland ZB, Hess ST. Process–Structure–Property Relationship Development in Large-Format Additive Manufacturing: Fiber Alignment and Ultimate Tensile Strength. Materials. 2024; 17(7):1526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17071526
Chicago/Turabian StyleSlattery, Lucinda K., Zackery B. McClelland, and Samuel T. Hess. 2024. "Process–Structure–Property Relationship Development in Large-Format Additive Manufacturing: Fiber Alignment and Ultimate Tensile Strength" Materials 17, no. 7: 1526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17071526