Mechanical Behaviour of Macroscopic Interfaces for 3D Printed Multi-material Samples

Abstract

The development of Additive Manufacturing technologies introduced new possibilities
regarding multi-material part production. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is one of those
technologies suitable for multi-material 3D printing. Usually, multi-material parts are manufactured
from different blends of the same material, also known as multi-color 3D printing, or from materials
with good chemical compatibility. However, the mechanical performance of multi-material parts is
frequently based on a simple face-to-face contact interface be-tween parts bodies and a physical bond
between thermoplastics. In this regard, the paper aimed to investigate the performance of the contact
interface of multi-material components using a geometrical approach. Therefore, multiple inter-locking
interfaces were investigated, such as Ω-shape, T-shape, dovetail, and others. For a broader
understanding of the interlocking interfaces, the experimental runs consisted of a group of compatible
thermoplastic materials, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU),
and low-compatible, i.e., polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) and polyamide (PA). The results
showed that macroscopic interlocking interfaces could enhance the mechanical properties.