Mechanical Characterization and Fire Resistance Study of Polycarbonate Samples Fabricated via Fused Filament Fabrication

Authors

  • R. Endymion Grosious Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai-602105, Tamil Nadu, India.
  • Natrayan Lakshmaiya Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai-602105, Tamil Nadu, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1001-3422

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22401/anjs.29.3.3953

Keywords:

Cross sectional shape, Flexural sample, Hardness, ASTM standard, Polycarbonate filament, Burning test, Fire resistance

Abstract

This study examines the mechanical performance and the fire resistance of pure polycarbonate specimens fabricated by fused filament fabrication (FFF) using three cross-sectional geometries (cross-sectional, rectangular and triangular). Flexural testing based on ASTM D790 showed that the cross sectional geometry had the highest flexural strength (105 MPa), followed by triangular (104 MPa) and rectangular (103 MPa) specimens. The cross-sectional specimens also exhibited the greatest strain at break (7.9%) and flexural modulus 2600 MPa as compared to triangular (7.7%, 2580 MPa) and rectangular (7.5%, 2560 MPa) geometries. Shore D hardness measurements (ASTM D2240) showed that the maximum values for cross sectional and triangular specimens were the same (84.5), whereas the rectangular geometry gave a slightly lower value (82.5). Fire resistance testing over a 100mm length proved burn times of 34 seconds in the vertical direction and 39 seconds in the horizontal direction. The results indicated that cross sectional geometry gives slight improvement in mechanical performance with similar fire resistance characteristics in FFF printed polycarbonate components.

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Published

2026-09-15

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 3 (2026): September 2026

Section

Chemistry

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Copyright (c) 2026 R. Endymion Grosious, Natrayan Lakshmaiya

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

(1)
Grosious, R. E. .; Lakshmaiya, N. . Mechanical Characterization and Fire Resistance Study of Polycarbonate Samples Fabricated via Fused Filament Fabrication. Al-Nahrain J. Sci. 2026, 29 (3), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.22401/anjs.29.3.3953.