Bachelor Thesis: Time-dependent characterization and constitutive modeling of 3D-printed polymers, Tango Black
Tango Black is a material highly used in testing applications. Thus, it is useful to model this material which is necessary to run simulations to understand how diverse structures behave under forces and to compare them with experimental data. Therefore, we will be doing the experimental characterization under uni-axial tension and cyclic loads of a 3D-printed polymer, Tango Black. Relaxation tests will be carried out too.
Experiments and Results
My work consisted in characterizing and modeling the mechanical behavior of a 3D printed polymer Tango Black. After choosing a convenient geometry for the test, I started by running tensile tests for our samples in order to determine the fracture strain for different strain rates. After that, I did some cyclic tests under the fracture point in order to get data about the stress and strain response of the polymer. These tests allow us to see the viscoelastic property of Tango Black. Finally, I realized relaxation tests of the samples. I had a hard time doing that since the sample broke after some time in the relaxation test. That's why I had to change the experimental setup and started using clamps to make sure that the sample doesn't break. Once I had all this data for different strain rates, I fitted it with a model for viscoelastic polymers on MATLAB. This procedure allowed me to obtain the model parameters of this 3D printed polymer Tango Black. More details can be found in the Bachelor Thesis report below!
