Damage tolerance-based methodology for fatigue lifetime estimation of a structural component produced by material extrusion-based additive manufacturing

journal article in Web of Science

English

While additive manufacturing of polymers, especially material extrusion-based methods such as fused filament fabrication, has become increasingly popular for design studies, rapid prototyping and the production of noncritical spare parts, its application in structurally loaded components is still scarce. One of the reasons for this might be scepticism of engineers due to the lack of knowledge regarding the expected lifetime and reliability of these components under stress. Therefore, it is necessary to find fast, easy and reliable ways to determine the expected lifetime of a component without the need to apply expensive full-scale component testing for every new part. To realise this, finite element analysis combined with fracture mechanical lifetime calculations can be applied. In this paper, crack growth kinetics of the commonly used material poly(lactic acid) have been utilised to estimate the lifetime of a component under complex loading conditions, namely fatigue and friction. The calculated lifetime, based on a damage tolerant fracture mechanics approach, was found to be in good agreement to the results of full-scale component tests, proving the applicability of the chosen approach. Applying this knowledge can vastly decrease the necessary time during component design and encourage the additive manufacturing community towards applying their components also in structurally loaded applications.

Additive manufacturing; PLA; Fatigue lifetime estimation; FEA; Crack propagation

ARBEITER, F.; TRÁVNÍČEK, L.; PETERSMANN, S.; DLHÝ, P.; SPOERK, M.; PINTER, G.; HUTAŘ, P.

1. 12. 2020

ELSEVIER

AMSTERDAM

2214-7810

Additive Manufacturing

36

1

Kingdom of the Netherlands

101730-1

101730-11

11

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214860420311027?via%3Dihub