Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing

Multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) enables the design of materials with tunable mechanical performance by fabricating multiple dissimilar materials in a single print. MMAM has been utilized to fabricate components with unique mechanical properties for applications such as damage detection,...

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Main Authors: Felix Richter, Dazhong Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Materials & Design
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026412752500108X
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author Felix Richter
Dazhong Wu
author_facet Felix Richter
Dazhong Wu
author_sort Felix Richter
collection DOAJ
description Multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) enables the design of materials with tunable mechanical performance by fabricating multiple dissimilar materials in a single print. MMAM has been utilized to fabricate components with unique mechanical properties for applications such as damage detection, medical devices, sensors, and soft robotics. However, the bonding strength between dissimilar polymeric materials strongly depends on the material combination and is typically lower than the material strength of the constituents. This study investigates the interfacial adhesion between two thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion (ME)-based MMAM by quantifying the interface bonding strength using mechanical tests and polymer adhesion theory-based correlation analysis. Experimental results showed that the polylactic acid (PLA)-polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), PETG-polycarbonate (PC) and PLA-PC material combinations exhibit bonding strengths that are close to or exceed their constituent’s material strength. Material combinations that include polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) exhibited bonding strengths of nearly two magnitudes lower than those of PLA-PETG, PETG-PC, and PLA-PC. The microstructural images of the samples showed that the most compatible combinations exhibited a smooth, gradient interface indicating the importance of nano-scale adhesion mechanisms. Based on Hansen solubility parameters and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), we observed the correlation between wettability and physical adsorption, intermolecular diffusion, thermal stress, and the interface bonding strength. The wettability and physical adsorption feature extracted from the solubility parameters showed the highest correlation with the interface bonding strength. Furthermore, we observed that the smaller the difference in solubility parameters and CTE between two thermoplastics fabricated via ME, the more compatible the two thermoplastics are.
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spelling doaj-art-d00cef97560842d38d2a24127d2885d52025-08-20T03:44:12ZengElsevierMaterials & Design0264-12752025-04-0125211368810.1016/j.matdes.2025.113688Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturingFelix Richter0Dazhong Wu1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USACorresponding author.; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USAMulti-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) enables the design of materials with tunable mechanical performance by fabricating multiple dissimilar materials in a single print. MMAM has been utilized to fabricate components with unique mechanical properties for applications such as damage detection, medical devices, sensors, and soft robotics. However, the bonding strength between dissimilar polymeric materials strongly depends on the material combination and is typically lower than the material strength of the constituents. This study investigates the interfacial adhesion between two thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion (ME)-based MMAM by quantifying the interface bonding strength using mechanical tests and polymer adhesion theory-based correlation analysis. Experimental results showed that the polylactic acid (PLA)-polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), PETG-polycarbonate (PC) and PLA-PC material combinations exhibit bonding strengths that are close to or exceed their constituent’s material strength. Material combinations that include polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) exhibited bonding strengths of nearly two magnitudes lower than those of PLA-PETG, PETG-PC, and PLA-PC. The microstructural images of the samples showed that the most compatible combinations exhibited a smooth, gradient interface indicating the importance of nano-scale adhesion mechanisms. Based on Hansen solubility parameters and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), we observed the correlation between wettability and physical adsorption, intermolecular diffusion, thermal stress, and the interface bonding strength. The wettability and physical adsorption feature extracted from the solubility parameters showed the highest correlation with the interface bonding strength. Furthermore, we observed that the smaller the difference in solubility parameters and CTE between two thermoplastics fabricated via ME, the more compatible the two thermoplastics are.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026412752500108XInterfacial adhesionDiffusionMulti-material additive manufacturingMaterial extrusionCompatibility
spellingShingle Felix Richter
Dazhong Wu
Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
Materials & Design
Interfacial adhesion
Diffusion
Multi-material additive manufacturing
Material extrusion
Compatibility
title Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
title_full Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
title_fullStr Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
title_full_unstemmed Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
title_short Interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion-based multi-material additive manufacturing
title_sort interfacial adhesion between dissimilar thermoplastics fabricated via material extrusion based multi material additive manufacturing
topic Interfacial adhesion
Diffusion
Multi-material additive manufacturing
Material extrusion
Compatibility
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026412752500108X
work_keys_str_mv AT felixrichter interfacialadhesionbetweendissimilarthermoplasticsfabricatedviamaterialextrusionbasedmultimaterialadditivemanufacturing
AT dazhongwu interfacialadhesionbetweendissimilarthermoplasticsfabricatedviamaterialextrusionbasedmultimaterialadditivemanufacturing