Characterization of thermal, chemical, mechanical, and fatigue behavior of 3D printed ABS-based elastomeric blends: ABS/EVA and ABS/TPU

Abstract

The polymer blending method is widely used to obtain balanced mechanical properties and structural performance in many engineering applications. This study investigates the influence of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA), and Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) composition ratios on the thermal, chemical, viscoelastic, mechanical, and fatigue life behavior of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) based elastomeric blends. For this purpose, structural and mechanical properties of the blend material depending on their composition ratio were carried out through a series of characterization analyses, and tensile and fatigue tests. The findings indicated that ABS/EVA and ABS/TPU blends formed an immiscible structure. In addition, it was determined that the storage modulus of the blend with 10 % TPU improved because of the presence of new absorption peaks in the structure. The mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength decreased concerning neat ABS with an increase in the EVA and TPU composition ratio for blend materials. However, the elongation to break was achieved approximately 6 times increasing with an increase in the TPU ratio for ABS/TPU blends. It was determined that the fatigue strength value in ABS/EVA and ABS/TPU blends decreased with the decrease in ABS composition ratio in the blend system. However, it was found that fatigue life improved by 25 % compared to ABS at low-stress amplitude for 10 % TPU additive. Finally, it can be revealed that the ABS-based elastomeric blends can be used to obtain desired properties according to their composition ratios for different applications.