Effect of Structure on Response of a Three-Dimensional-Printed Photopolymer-Particulate Composite Under Intermediate Strain Rate Loading

The thermo-mechanical response of an additively manufactured photopolymer-particulate composite under conditions of macroscopic uniaxial compression without lateral confinement at overall strain rates of 400–2000 s⁻¹ is studied. The material has a direct-ink-written unidirectional structure. Computations are performed to quantify the effects of microstructure attributes including anisotropy, defects, and filament size on localized deformation, energy dissipations, and temperature rises. To this effect, an experimentally informed Lagrangian finite element framework is used, accounting for finite-strain elastic–plastic deformation, strain-rate effect, failure initiation and propagation, post-failure internal contact and friction, heat generation due to friction and inelastic bulk deformation, and heat conduction. The analysis focuses on the material behavior under overall compression. Despite relatively low contribution to overall heating, friction is localized at fracture sites and plays an essential role in the development of local temperature spikes unknown as hotspots. The microstructural attributes are found to significantly affect the development of the hotspots, with local heating most pronounced when loading is transverse to the filaments or when the material has higher porosities, stronger inter-filament junctions, or smaller filament sizes. Samples with smaller filament sizes undergo more damage, exhibit higher frictional dissipation, and develop larger hotspots that occur primarily at failure sites.