A comparative study on the tensile properties of 3D printed ABS filament and resin: Effects of aging

This study investigates the effects of environmental aging on the tensile properties of 3D printed specimens using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA) and Digital Light Processing (DLP) technologies. Specimens are printed from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) filament and ABS-based resin. Tensile testing is conducted on samples directly after printing and then following aging periods of one month and two months in a controlled environment (23 °C, 55 % RH). Statistical analysis is performed using ANOVA to evaluate the influence of the printing method, material type, and aging time on tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and elongation at break. The tensile performance of FDM-printed specimens generally decreases over time, which is evident from the comparative analysis. Specimens aged for two months exhibit significantly reduced tensile strength compared to both unaged and one-month aged SLA specimens. Interestingly, one-month aged specimens show a slight improvement in tensile performance com-pared to unaged samples which is an unexpected outcome. On the other hand, DLP specimens display a clear sensitivity to the aging process, with a marked degradation in performance when subjected to tensile load over time. This highlights a lack of tolerance to aging in DLP 3D printed materials under mechanical stress.