Fatigue life assessment of polyamide 12 processed by selective laser sintering. Damage modelling according to fracture mechanics

Purpose Polyamide 12 (PA12) processed by the additive manufacturing technique of selective laser sintering (SLS) is acquiring a leading role in cutting-edge technological sectors pertaining to transport and biomedical among others. In many of these applications, design requirements must ensure fatigue structural integrity. One of the characteristic features of these SLS PA12 is the layer-wise structure that may influence the mechanical response. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the fatigue life behavior of PA12, focusing on the effect of the load direction with respect to the load orientation. Design/methodology/approach With the aim of analyzing the effect of the load direction with respect to the layer wise structure, fatigue tests on plain samples of SLS PA12 were carried out with the load applied parallel and perpendicular to the layer planes. The S-N stress life curves and the fatigue limit at 106 cycles were determined at room temperature and at a stress ratio of 0.1. The fracture surfaces were inspected to evaluate the damage evolution, modeled via the fracture mechanics methodology to obtain the fracture parameters. Findings The fatigue resistance was better when the load was applied parallel than when was applied perpendicularly to the layered structure. The analysis of the postmortem specimens evidenced three regions. The inspection of the fatigue macro crack growth region revealed that crazing was the mechanism responsible of nucleation and growth of damage till a macroscopic crack was generated, as well as of the consequent crack advancement. The calculated fracture parameters computed from the application of the fracture mechanics approach were similar to those obtained from standardized fracture tests, except when the stress levels were close to the yield strength. Originality/value The fatigue knowledge of polymers, and especially of polymers processed via additive manufacturing techniques, is still scarce. Therefore, the value of this investigation is not only to obtain fatigue data that could be used for structural design with SLS PA12 materials but also to advance in the knowledge of damage evolution during the fatigue process.

Influence of the Printing Angle and Load Direction on Flexure Strength in 3D Printed Materials for Provisional Dental Restorations

The CAD/CAM techniques, especially additive manufacturing such as 3D printing, constitute an ever-growing part of obtaining different dental appliances and restorations. Of these, provisional restorations are of frequent use in daily dental practice and are the object of this study. Masticatory and parafunctional forces determine flexure on these prostheses. This study investigates the influence of the printing angle and loading direction of the applied force on the flexure strength of two commercially available printable resins—Detax Freeprint Temp and Nextdent MFH Vertex dental. Ten rectangular beam specimens printed at the angle of 0, 45 and 90 degrees were fabricated of each of these materials, with an addition of 10 at 0 degrees for the investigation of the load direction. Three-point bending tests were performed in a universal testing machine. Flexure strength, strain at break and Young’s modulus were determined and a statistical analysis was performed on the obtained data. According to the statistical analysis, the flexural strength has a significance dependence with respect to degrees of orientation, for both investigated materials.

The Influence of Different Infill Structures on the Mechanical Properties in Additive Manufacturing

Besides the outer shell, it is the internal structures that contribute the most to the mechanical integrity of an additively manufactured component. In order to investigate the influence of the geometrically different internal structures and infill density on the Young’s modulus, tensile strength and failure strain, tensile specimens of polylactic Acid (PLA) were prepared using fused deposition modeling and tested at room temperature. There was a significant influence of the infill density, the manufacturing process and the resulting microstructure on the mechanical properties. In summary, the position of the microstructure relative to the load direction is found to be a significant factor of influence.

Directional Control of Rayleigh Wave Propagation in an Elastic Lattice by Gyroscopic Effects

We discuss the propagation of Rayleigh waves at the boundary of a semi-infinite elastic lattice connected to a system of gyroscopic spinners. We present the derivation of the analytical solution of the equations governing the system when the lattice is subjected to a force acting on the boundary. We show that the analytical results are in excellent agreement with the outcomes of independent finite element simulations. In addition, we investigate the influence of the load direction, frequency and gyroscopic properties of the model on the dynamic behavior of the micro-structured medium. The main result is that the response of the forced discrete system is not symmetric with respect to the point of application of the force when the effect of the gyroscopic spinners is taken into account. Accordingly, the gyroscopic lattice represents an important example of a non-reciprocal medium. Hence, it can be used in practical applications to split the energy coming from an external source into different contributions, propagating in different directions.

Helical Pile Capacity-to-Torque Correlation: A More Reliable Capacity-to-Torque Factor Based on Full Scale Load Tests

The capacity-to-torque ratio, Kt, has been used in the design of helical piles and anchors for over half a century. Numerous research efforts have been conducted to accurately predict this capaci-ty-to-torque ratio. However, almost of all these Kt factors are based on shaft geometry alone. The ca-pacity-to-torque ratio described herein was found to depend on the shaft diameter, shaft geometry, helix configuration, axial load direction, and installation torque. In this study, 799 full scale static load tests in compression and tension were conducted on helical piles of varying shaft diameters, shaft geometry, and helix configurations in different soil types (sand, clay, and weathered bedrock). The collected data were used to study the effect of these variables on the capacity-to-torque ratio and resulted in developing a more reliable capacity-to-torque ratio, Km, that considers the effect of the variables mentioned above. The study shows that the published Kt values in AC358 (ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria for Helical Piles Systems and Devices) underestimate the pile capacity at low torque and overestimate it at high torque. In addition, and based on probability analysis, the predicted capacity using the modified Km results in a higher degree of accuracy than the one based on the published Kt values in AC358.

Factors Affecting Stability of the Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study

Background: The overall objective of this study was to investigate whether a reverse shoulder arthroplasty could provide adequate stability to a shoulder even with extreme soft tissue loss. The specific objectives of this study were: to determine if just the deltoid, conjoined tendon, and triceps are sufficient soft tissues to allow a Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty (RSA) to provide shoulder stability and to determine the influence of load direction, rotation, shoulder position, and polyethylene thickness on RSA stability in this soft-tissue deficient model. Methods: This study utilized six cadaveric shoulders that had all soft tissue removed, with the exception of the deltoid, conjoint tendon, and long head of triceps. A reverse shoulder arthroplasty was then performed (Delta III, DePuy Inc., Warsaw, IN) and an increasing dislocation force was applied perpendicular to the humeral socket centerline until dislocation occurred, or a maximum load of 100 N was reached. This was repeated to measure the effect of four factors: load direction, arm position, polyethylene thickness, and arm rotation on force to dislocation. Results: For load direction, there was an increase in force to dislocate an inferior load direction (p=0.01). There was a lower not dislocated percentage and lower survival for a posterior load direction (p=0.02). For arm position, there was a decrease in force for dislocation and lower survival for both abduction and extension arm positions. There was a higher not dislocated percentage for a flexion arm position (p=0.01). For arm rotation, there was a lower not dislocated percentage and lower survival for an external rotation arm position (p=0.03). There was no statistically significant influence of polyethylene thickness (p=0.26). Conclusion: The deltoid, conjoined tendon, and triceps are sufficient to stabilize an RSA. Load direction, arm position, and arm rotation were all shown to significantly affect stability. Finally, polyethylene thickness may not affect overall RSA stability in this soft-tissue deficient model. Level of Evidence: Basic science study, Biomechanical study.