Intralaminar fracture toughness of 3D printed unidirectional composites

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the fracture toughness $(G_{Ic})$ of intralaminar specimens of 3D printed composites. Two types of polylactide acid (PLA) were tested, PLA Neat (with no reinforcement) and PLA Carbon (PLA reinforced with short carbon fibers). The results of the tests of the two materials are compared with each other. The result of PLA Neat will be compared to that of Reference [19]. The results of the PLA Carbon will also be compared to that of the interlaminar tests performed in Reference [6]. Please note that the tests in Reference [6] were performed concurrently with this work using the same methodology and equipment. The resulting values showed that the PLA neat had lower $G_{Ic}$ values than those of comparable PLA carbon specimens. The intralaminar PLA carbon specimens had higher $G_{Ic}$ $(0.730 \frac{kj}{m^2})$ than interlaminar $(0.0007 \frac{kj}{m^2} average).$