Characterization of effective Young’s modulus for Fused Deposition Modeling manufactured topology optimization designs

Topology optimization method allows finding optimized designs in a efficient way; however, it generally leads to complex geometries difficult to manufacture by traditional methods. Additive manufacturing is one of the techniques used to build this kind of structures due to its ability to achieve complex geometries faster and at lower costs than traditional subtractive manufacturing methods. However, 3D manufacture effects such as interlayer porosity or weak interlayer bonding generate changes in the mechanical properties of the material used for printing, which lead to losses in the performance of the optimized structure if the manufacture process does not take them into account. Therefore, this article proposes a methodology using the impulse excitation technique, which is a non-destructive characterization method of materials that uses a test piece with a fixed geometry, its mass, and its natural frequencies to determine Young’s modulus, Shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and Damping coefficient; to obtain an effective isotropic Young’s modulus of Fused Deposition Modeling–printed thermoplastic materials to be used in topology optimization design.