Dr. Mark Oliver participated in the “Additive Manufacturing: Design, Test, and 3D Print for Production” session at ANTEC 2018, in Orlando, Florida May 7-10, 2018. He spoke about “Ensuring Mechanical Reliability of Additively Manufactured Parts Through Testing and Simulation.” Dr. Oliver’s presentation addressed how to predict the mechanical behavior of polymeric additively manufactured (AM) parts using nonlinear finite element analysis. He discussed how to measure mechanical behavior, calibrate material models, and validate those models using a case study of simulating the strength of a polymeric AM part designed using topology optimization.
Dr. Oliver also addressed fatigue and fracture of AM polymers and shared new data on materials processed using MJF, CLIP, and SLS. Fatigue and fracture properties are not often listed on data sheets but are critical to engineering reliable parts for mechanical applications.
Dr. Sean Teller participated in the “Engineering Properties and Structure: Innovations in Polyolefins and Plastics” session. Dr. Teller’s presentation, titled “Techniques to Measure Impact Properties of Polymers,” addressed how commercial applications of polymers have always included impact conditions, but it has been consistently difficult to measure the high rate response of thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, and foams. Dr. Teller presented various methodologies to evaluate the high strain rate (impact) properties of polymeric materials and examined the applicable range of strain rates by material and methodology. The presentation included a discussion of which techniques provide information within constraints of accuracy and ease of testing.