Shear and Impact Toughness Testing of 3D Printed Polymer Specimens Obtained by Fused Deposition Modeling

In this work, mechanical tests were performed on 3D printed polymer test specimens obtained using Fused Deposition Modeling technology. The test specimens are from different groups of materials - easy to print, resistant to wear and high temperature, and mechanically strong and elastic. All were printed with identical characteristics: layer height, printing direction, percentage of filling, and grid type. They differ in printing temperature, printing speed, and cooling during the printing process. A standard testing machine was used, equipped with a shear testing device, and a Charpy hammer was used for impact toughness testing. The shear strength and the energy required for impact failure were determined. Two of the tested materials were subjected to additional heating to strengthen them. The results for one of them- PC showed the highest shear strength of 23 MPa, while the highest impact strength was obtained for the PC that was not heated.