Abstract: This paper presents an adapted methodology for the prediction of fracture loads in additively manufactured (fused filament fabrication) polymers that exhibit non-linear behavior. The approach is based on the Average Strain Energy Density (ASED) criterion, which is typically limited to materials which develop fully linear-elastic behavior. Thus, in those cases where the material has a certain (non-negligible) amount of non-linear
behavior, the ASED criterion needs to be corrected. To extend its applicability, this work proposes a thorough calibration of the ASED characteristic parameters: the critical value of the strain energy and the volume of the corresponding control volume. This enables the extrapolation of the linear-elastic formulation to non-linear situations. The approach is validated using acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate (ASA) and 10 wt.% carbon-fiber reinforced ASA specimens. Single-edge-notched bending (SENB) specimens with three different raster orientations (0/90, 45/-45, and 30/-60) and four U-notch radii (0.0 mm-crack-like, 0.50 mm, 1.0 mm, and 2.0 mm) were printed and tested. The results demonstrate that the proposed calibration of the ASED criterion allows for accurate predictions of failure loads, providing a reliable tool for the structural integrity assessment of 3D-printed components.
