Purpose: The continual growth of additive manufacturing has increased tremendously because of its versatility, flexibility and high customization of geometric structures. However, design hurdles are presented in understanding the relationship between the fabrication process and materials microstructure as it relates to the mechanical performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of build architecture and microstructure and the effects of load direction on the static response and mechanical properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) specimens obtained via the fused deposition modeling (FDM) processing technique. Design/methodology/approach: Among additive manufacturing processes, FDM is a prolific technology for manufacturing ABS. The blend of ABS combines strength, rigidity and toughness, all of which are desirable for the production of structural materials in rapid manufacturing applications. However, reported literature has varied widely on the mechanical performance due to the proprietary nature of the ABS material ratio, ultimately creating a design hurdle. While prior experimental studies have studied the mechanical response via uniaxial tension testing, this study has aimed to understand the mechanical response of ABS from the materials’ microstructural point of view. First, ABS specimen was fabricated via FDM using a defined build architecture. Next, the specimens were mechanically tested until failure. Then finally, the failure structures were microstructurally investigated. In this paper, the effects of microstructural evolution on the static mechanical response of various build architecture of ABS aimed at FDM manufacturing technique was analyzed. Findings: The results show that the rastering orientation of 0/90 exhibited the highest tensile strength followed by fracture at its maximum load. However, the “45” bead direction of the ABS fibers displayed a cold-drawing behavior before rupture. The morphology analyses before and after tensile failure were characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which highlighted the effects of bead geometry (layers) and areas of stress concentration such as interstitial voids in the material during build, ultimately compromising the structural integrity of the specimens. Research limitations/implications: The ability to control the constituents and microstructure of a material during fabrication is significant to improving and predicting the mechanical performance of structural additive manufacturing components. In this report, the effects of microstructure on the mechanical performance of FDM-fabricated ABS materials was discussed. Further investigations are planned in understanding the effects of ambient environmental conditions (such as moisture) on the ABS material pre- and post-fabrication. Originality/value: The study provides valuable experimental data for the purpose of understanding the inter-dependency between build parameters and microstructure as it relates to the specimens exemplified strength. The results highlighted in this study are fundamental to the development of optimal design of strength and complex ultra-lightweight structure efficiency.

In this study, a thorough investigation of the microstructures and tensile properties of 316L stainless steel fabricated via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) was done. 316L stainless steel specimens with two different thicknesses of 1.5 mm and 4.0 mm fabricated under similar conditions were utilized. Microstructural characterization was performed using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Melt pools and cellular structures were observed using OM, whereas EBSD was utilized to obtain the grain size, grain boundary characteristics, and crystallographic texture. The 1.5 mm thick sample demonstrated a yield strength (YS) of 538.42 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 606.47 MPa, and elongation to failure of 69.88%, whereas the 4.0 mm thick sample had a YS of 551.21 MPa, UTS of 619.58 MPa, and elongation to failure of 73.66%. These results demonstrated a slight decrease in mechanical properties with decreasing thickness, with a 2.4% reduction in YS, 2.1% reduction in UTS, and 5.8% reduction in elongation to failure. In addition to other microstructural features, the cellular structures were observed to be the major contributors to the high mechanical properties. Using the inverse pole figure (IPF) maps, both thicknesses depicted a crystallographic texture of {001} in their as-built state. However, when subjected to tensile loads, texture transitions to {111} and {111} were observed for the 1.5 mm and 4.0 mm samples, respectively. Additionally, EBSD analysis revealed the pre-existence of high-density dislocation networks and a high fraction of low-angle grain boundaries. Interestingly, twinning was observed, suggesting that the plastic deformation occurred through dislocation gliding and deformation twinning.

The goal of the study is to understand the potential energy absorption benefits ofcomponents fabricated using fused deposition modeling additive manufacturing under high strain rateloading. Tensile tests were conducted on 3-D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) at differentstrain rates, according to the ASTM D638 standard, to assess its strain rate sensitivity under quasi-staticloads. The tensile test was also necessary to determine the mechanical properties necessary to characterizethe dynamic response of the ABS at high strain rates. The ABS specimens were subjected to high strainrate deformation through the use of the split Hopkinson pressure bar. During compression, a new phenomenon described as a multistage collapse in which the samplesundergo multiple stages of contraction and expansion was observed as the impact load was applied. Thismultistage deformation behavior may be attributable to the ring formed around layers in the specimen dueto the manner of fabrication which potentially absorbed and released the energy, thus acting as a multistage spring. As the velocity of impact increases, it is observed that the ABS capability for energy absorption decreased to where there was only one stage of compression equivalent to the initial stage. The multistage collapse of the 3-D printed ABS specimen indicates a potential for a novel energy absorption mechanism to be exploited at lower strain rates. Future work in the area should include more studies about printing orientation, as well as investigating the impact of the presence of the outer cylindrical ring on the overall dynamic response.

The present work deals with studies on the dynamic behavior of ultrafine grained AA2519 alloy synthesized via cryogenic forging (CF) and room temperature forging (RTF) techniques. A split-Hopkinson pressure bar was used to perform high strain rate tests on the processed samples and the microstructures of the samples were characterized before and after impact tests. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) maps demonstrated a significant grain size refinement from ~740 nm to ~250 nm as a result of cryogenic plastic deformation showing higher dislocation densities and stored strains in the CF sample when compared to the RTF sample. This microstructure modification caused the increase of dynamic flow stress in this alloy. In addition, the aluminum matrix of the CF alloy is more densely populated with fragmented particles than the RTF alloy due to the heavier plastic deformation applied to the cryogenically forged alloy. The results obtained from the stress–strain curve for the RTF sample showed intense thermomechanical instabilities in the RTF sample which led to a severe thermal softening and the subsequent sharp drop in the flow stress. However, no significant decrease was observed in the stress–strain curve of the CF alloys with ultrafine grains which means that thermal softening would probably not be the most effective failure mechanism. Furthermore, higher level of sensitivity of CF alloys to strain rates was observed which is ascribed to transition of rate-controlling plastic deformation mechanisms. In the post-mortem microstructure investigation, deformed and transformed adiabatic shear bands (ASBs) were identified on the RTF alloy when the strain rate is over 4000 s⁻¹ at which it had experienced a significant thermal softening. On the other hand, circular path and aligned split arcs are the various shapes of the deformed ASB seen at no earlier than 4500 s⁻¹ in the CF alloys. This is associated with the crack failure caused by grain boundary sliding.

In this study, the effects of mechanical vibration on the mechanical properties of ceramic diesel particulate filters (DPFs) were investigated. The goal is to determine how the mechanical vibration used in the regenerative ash cleaning process for these filters affects their mechanical integrity during subsequent reuse. Both virgin and vibrated DPF samples were subjected to com-pressive and 3-point flexural loading at three different loading rates along axial and tangential directions. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine the significance of variation in the compressive and flexural strengths of the DPFs as a result of exposure to mechanical vibration. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference in both compressive and flexural strengths of the virgin DPFs and the DPFs subjected to the same level of mechanical vibration typically used in ash cleaning of DPFs. When the intensity of vibration was doubled, the drop in compressive strength became statistically significant, but less than 10% under axial loading. However, no drop in flexural strength was observed for DPFs subjected to this high intensity of mechanical vibration. The safe threshold for mechanical vibration of ceramic filters is considered to be much higher than that currently used in vibration-based ash cleaning process.