Tensile strength dependence of FFF fiber reinforced ABS on environmental conditioning

Abstract

Evaluation of environmental durability is essential for the qualification of polymeric materials used in Fused Filament Fabrication and certification of the manufactured parts. Polymer chain motion at temperatures approaching the glass transition temperature and water ingress into voids impact the response of these materials to load. To investigate these effects, uniaxial tension testing was performed after conditioning specimens under heat or moisture. Results showed that conditioning temperature substantially influences the failure strain in multiple orientations. Both heat, beyond 50 °C, and moisture create increased variability of the specimen response to load, both in ultimate tensile strength and elongation to break.

Keywords:

• Composites
• environmental durability
• fused filament fabrication
• polymers
• standardization
• tensile testing