Evaluation of mechanical properties characterization of additively manufactured components

Additive manufacturing by material extrusion offers innovative potential for component design and is driving advances in many industries. However, fully harnessing these advancements necessitates a thorough comprehension of the process-specific anisotropic structural properties. The complex interactions between process parameters and their direct influence on structural properties often lead to discrepancies between the mechanical properties of tested specimens at the coupon level and the inherent properties of additively manufactured components. In addition, there is no standardized method for preparing specimens that represent the mechanical properties within a given component. This further complicates the comparison of measured properties of different series of measurements and the investigation of manufacturing effects that may occur during the production of a component. Given these challenges, the present work addresses the fundamental question of what aspects need to be considered to ensure that the test specimens reflect the process conditions being tested. The studies look at the requirements for producing representative specimens and for the test methodology to characterize the mechanical properties of additively manufactured structures. The tests are carried out on specimens that were produced directly using the material extrusion process and on specimens that were cut from additively manufactured plates. Water jet cutting, milling, and laser cutting are investigated and compared as cutting methods. The influence of the specimen geometry and the size of the additively manufactured plate is considered. The orientation-dependent mechanical properties, the significance of the individual tests, the measurement scatter, and scanning electron micrographs of the cut edges and fracture surfaces are analyzed. Finally, guidelines for performing representative tests to characterize the mechanical properties of additively manufactured components are proposed.