Mechanical Properties of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D Printing Materials

Abstract

This report contains the mechanical description of 8 material types, which were printed via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and tested based on the standard EN ISO 527-1, in order to characterise the different materials from a mechanical point of view and compare the measured mechanical properties to the values given by the manufacturers. Special emphasis is placed on the manufacturing process of the testing specimens, thus providing insight into the best method for printing each filament material and enabling the exact replication of the different samples. As the tests were conducted complying with the standard EN ISO 527-1, the obtained results can be compared to other published results. It was observed, that printing with a polyamide (PA) filament generated the strongest material, while the stiffest material was produced by utilizing a filament made of polyethyleneterephthalate reinforced with carbon fibers (PET-C). All measured specifications were lower than the values given by the manufactures.