As the number of applications for additive manufacturing expands, so do the mechanical requirements for additively manufactured parts. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) has been at the forefront of AM due to the relatively low costs and broad availability of machines. Parts produced by this technology tend to be highly anisotropic due to the weld introduced between layers during the build process, as well as the introduction of material discontinuities that stem from the junction of elliptical beads, resulting in parts that contain voids. This work aims to perform a comprehensive study of the relation between anisotropy and the viscoelastic properties in FFF objects over a wide range of frequencies employing various experimental techniques, namely: ultrasonic testing, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and broadband viscoelastic spectroscopy (BVS). Results can be applied in vibrational, acoustic, and other dampening applications.
Figure 1
Preliminary test results for DMA showing the effect of print orientation on the viscoelastic behavior compared to compression molded parent material (PM)