Li-Cai Zhao, Yuan Long, Ziren Wang
This study investigated the influence of 3D printing parameters on the fracture behavior of adhesively bonded joints (ABJs) under mode-II quasi-static loading. End-notched flexure (ENF) specimens were used to determine mode-II fracture behavior. ENF specimens were fabricated using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) with polylactic acid (PLA), with varied raster angles (0°, 45°, 90°) and layer thicknesses (0.1, 0.2, 0.5 mm). The mode-II fracture energy was experimentally determined via the compliance-based beam method (CBBM), which eliminates the need for crack length monitoring. Results revealed that lower layer thicknesses and raster angles aligned with the loading direction increase maximum load and fracture energy. The results showed that increasing the printing layer thickness from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm at a raster angle of 0° led to a decrease of approximately 20% in the maximum load and 12% in the fracture energy. Furthermore, altering the raster angle from 0° to 90° resulted in a reduction of about 40% and 25% in maximum load and fracture energy, respectively. A 3D finite element model incorporating a cohesive zone model (CZM) with bi-linear traction – separation laws was developed to simulate fracture behavior. Numerical predictions showed strong agreement with experimental results.