Interlayer bond strength and failure behaviour of additively manufactured short glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene
Progress in Additive Manufacturing, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s40964-026-02025-8
- Dergi Adı: Progress in Additive Manufacturing
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Fibrillation, Fused filament fabrication, Glass fibre reinforcement, Interlayer bonding, Polypropylene
- İstanbul Üniversitesi-Cerrahpaşa Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study investigates the effect of nozzle temperature on the interlayer bond strength of fused filament fabricated (FFF) polypropylene (PP) reinforced with short glass fibres. Pure PP and glass fibre-reinforced PP filaments containing 15 wt% and 30 wt% fibres are printed at nozzle temperatures of 260 °C, 280 °C, and 300 °C. Interlayer bonding strength of the specimens is evaluated using trouser-tear fracture tests following ASTM 1938. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is conducted to examine thermal behaviour, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to measure contact length and observe fracture surfaces. The results show that increasing nozzle temperature yields to a decrease in adhesion strength for the pure PP, whereas fibre-reinforced specimens exhibit a significant improvement in both nominal and adhesion strengths with increasing temperature. DSC results indicate that increase in nozzle temperature reduces the degree of crystallinity in pure PP, while fibre-reinforced specimens remain largely unaffected possibly due to the nucleating effect of glass fibres. SEM-based fractography reveals that fibril formation correlates strongly with the mechanical performance, decreasing with temperature in pure PP but increasing in reinforced systems. The findings highlight the competing effects of melt viscosity, polymer chain mobility, and fibre-matrix interactions on interlayer bonding. Overall, increasing nozzle temperature is beneficial for fibre-reinforced PP systems, whereas it adversely affects neat PP, demonstrating the critical role of material composition in process optimisation.