Investigation of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Glass Fiber Reinforced 3D Printed Polymer Composites

In this study, the fused deposition modelling (FDM) process is utilized to develop the short glass fiber (SGF) reinforced 3D printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) polymer composites. Three filaments for FDM were prepared by varying SGF reinforcement percentages in ABS matrix 0%, 15%, and 30% respectively. The microstructural analysis of SGF reinforced ABS filament was carried out to understand bonding and dispersion. The composites were analyzed for their microstructure, mechanical properties and fracture behavior. Short glass fibers were uniformly distributed in composite ABS matrix, with strong interfacial bonding between ABS and SGF, and no clustering or gaps at interfaces. Tensile test demonstrated that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was significantly enhanced with SGF inclusion, peaking at 49.7 MPa for the ABS/30%SGF composite, demonstrating the strength advantages of fiber reinforcing. On the contrary, the presence of SGF negatively affected material elongation, with the ABS/30%SGF composite showing the least flexibility, likely due to restricted polymer chain mobility. Fractured tensile specimens revealed a transition from ductile fracture in neat ABS to brittle fracture in SGF composites, with the latter lacking plastic deformation features. The ABS/30%SGF composite had the highest flexural strength, demonstrating enhanced fiber-matrix bonding and fiber distribution, resulting in a 58.2% and 12.7% increase in strength compared to neat ABS and the ABS/15%SGF composites, respectively.