A numerical study on a modified Arcan test for additive manufacturing

In this communication reference was made to PolyLactic Acid products of 3D printing by Fused Filament Fabrication technique. To assess the fracture behavior of such manufactured parts, consistently with their transversal isotropy and brittle behavior, a modified Arcan fixture was proposed, allowing one to easily generate mixed mode loading conditions by a simple uniaxial testing machine. For a preliminary assessment of the novel equipment, a large-scale finite element model was developed. The model takes into account the presence of design tolerances and frictional contact between sample and fixture as well as interlaminar debonding within the sample, by means of explicit analyses including geometric nonlinearities. Computing costs and simulation accuracy were optimized by exploiting mass scaling, boundary conditions and diverse solutions for sample fastening.