Dynamic Behavior of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Under Impact Loads

This paper is aimed at providing a better understanding of the potential energy absorption benefits of components fabricated using fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing. Using FDM, it is possible to print three-dimensional (3-D) objects created through the use of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing software coupled with computer codes that enable the layer-by-layer deposition of material to form the 3-D component. Also known as direct digital manufacturing or 3-D printing, AM offers the benefit of being able to rotate printing orientation during processing to manipulate the design build and ultimately control mechanical and structural properties when subjected to dynamic loads. In this work, tensile test specimens were first fabricated to characterize the general mechanical behavior of the of 3D-printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) material to assess its potential strain rate dependency. The mechanical evaluation under the quasi-static load was also necessary to determine the properties necessary to characterize the dynamic evolution of ABS in compression at various strain rates. ABS specimens were subsequently subjected to high strain rate deformation through the use of the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. During compression a new phenomenon described as a multistage collapse in which the samples undergo multiple stages of contraction and expansion was observed as the impact load was applied.