Polietilen Tereftalat Glikol (PETG) Malzeme Kullanılarak Eklemeli İmalat Yöntemi ile Elde Edilen Honeycomb ve T-Rib Kafes Yapıların Çekme Dayanımlarının Araştırılması

Additive Manufacturing (AM), a production method where target parts are fabricated by adding material rather than cutting, carving, or removing it as in traditional methods, has been gaining increasing prominence due to the design flexibility it offers. This technique provides unique advantages in the fabrication of complex geometries, hollow structures, and lattice frameworks that are unattainable through conventional manufacturing methods.Among AM techniques, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is the most widely utilized, employing a variety of thermoplastic polymer materials. Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) is a thermoplastic polymer commonly used in the FDM process owing to its high impact resistance, chemical resistance, and ease of processability.This study investigates the mechanical properties of Honeycomb and T-rib lattice structures fabricated via the FDM process using PETG material. Honeycomb and T-rib lattices are widely employed in various engineering applications due to their lightweight nature, energy absorption capabilities, and customizable mechanical performance.Lattice structures are particularly valued in engineering applications for their combination of low weight and high strength. It is well established that manufacturing parameters such as layer thickness, printing temperature, and printing speed significantly influence the mechanical performance of such structures. In the first phase of this study, two distinct lattice structures with an edge width of 0.8 mm and an edge length of 4 mm were designed using computer-aided design (CAD) software. These designs were then integrated into tensile specimens conforming to the ISO 527-2:2012 standard, resulting in tensile test samples comprising two different lattice structures, along with a fully solid tensile specimen designed according to the standard dimensions. In the second phase, the finalized designs were fabricated using the FDM process with PETG filament, employing the following parameters: 100% infill density, 0.4 mm nozzle diameter, 0.18 mm layer thickness, 90 mm/s printing speed, 70 °C build platform temperature, and 235 °C extrusion temperature. In the third phase, tensile tests were conducted on the specimens at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min, in accordance with ISO 527-2:2012. Yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and tensile modulus values were obtained for the Honeycomb and T-rib lattice structures, and a comparative analysis was performed. The results revealed that the Honeycomb structure exhibited lower values for yield strength (6.9 MPa), ultimate tensile strength (7.11 MPa), and tensile modulus (332.49 MPa) compared to the T-rib structure, which exhibited yield strength (14.6 MPa), ultimate tensile strength (15.94 MPa), and tensile modulus (634.60 MPa).Furthermore, despite having identical edge widths and lengths, a difference in the void ratio between the two lattice structures was observed, attributed to geometric variations. It was also determined that the geometric differences between the unit cells, despite identical edge dimensions, had a significant influence on the observed variations in yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and tensile modulus.