The effect of structure geometry on flexural characteristics of 3D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) beams: Experimental and numerical study

Abstract

This study examines the influence of stiffener geometry on the flexural properties of 3D-printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), with an emphasis on developing rheological constitutive models to predict these properties. Beams with four structural geometries (hexagonal, circular, square, and triangular) were fabricated and evaluated. Because 3D-printed ABS exhibits anisotropic behavior, a detailed assessment of its mechanical response is essential. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using Ansys was employed to model the beams’ flexural characteristics, and experimental flexural tests were conducted to validate the FEA simulations. The results guide optimizing 3D-printed beam designs to improve flexural performance. Findings show that FEA predicts stress and deflection with minimal error, offering a cost-effective alternative to repeated physical testing. Among the tested geometries, the hexagonal configuration demonstrated the greatest force–deflection performance, whereas the triangular configuration exhibited the lowest.