Brittle fracture of notched components fabricated by stereolithography

Since additive manufacturing (AM, i.e., 3D printing) has been widely used for production of end-used products, the mechanical strength of parts fabricated by this technology have gained considerable significance. The current study presents fracture load assessment of 3D-printed components fabricated by the stereolithography (SLA) technique using UV sensitive resin material. In this context, dumbbell-shaped specimens were printed and tested to determine basic mechanical properties. Moreover, V-notched semi-circular bending test coupons with various notch opening angles (i.e., 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°) were printed and examined. Parallel to the experimental tests, we developed a finite element model to simulate the load carrying performance of 3D-printed parts. Moreover, we used the digital image correlation technique to determine displacement and strain field on the surface of the examined specimens. Since the mechanical strength and fracture behavior of 3D-printed parts are investigated in the current study, the presented outcomes can be utilized for innovative designs of parts fabricated by SLA with a higher mechanical strength, and improved load-carrying capacity.