Investigation of low-percentage graphene reinforcement on the mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured polyethylene terephthalate glycol composites

Abstract

The current work investigates the influence of graphene on the mechanical properties of additive-manufactured polyethylene terephthalate glycol (Prince Edward IslandTG) composites. To this end, the graphene content is varied by 0.02 wt.%, 0.04 wt.%, 0.08 wt.%, and 0.1 wt.% to obtain different compositions of PETG/graphene composites. The filaments were prepared by mixing the PETG pellets and graphene flakes into the required quantity. Further, the mixture is extruded using a single screw extruder into small filaments with a 1.75 mm diameter. Using fused deposition modelling (FDM), the specimens were 3D printed following ASTM requirements. The fabricated PETG/graphene specimens are assessed for their mechanical properties, such as tensile, compression, flexural and impact characteristics. Finally, the fractography of the tested specimens is analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimentation of PETG/graphene composites reveals that the optimum mechanical properties can be achieved when PETG is reinforced with 0.04 wt.% of graphene. As opposed to virgin PETG, an increment of 89.71%, 81.76%, 21.60%, and 81.25% is witnessed in the tensile, compression, flexural, and impact strengths of the PETG/0.04 wt.% graphene composite. The outcome of this work is believed to pave the way for broadening the applications of graphene-based composites in electromechanical and smart structure engineering domains.

Prediction surface roughness of 3D printed parts using genetic algorithm optimized hybrid learning model

“…14 Thermoplastic is a filament that is heated in an extrusion chamber and used to build the material on the bed. Many special filament types, such as polylactic acid (PLA), 15 acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), 16 polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and nylon, are used in the FDM process. 17 In this study, the surface quality of the intake manifold flange made of ABS was examined.…”