Experimental investigation of 3D printed infill structures for crash absorbing applications

In recent years additive manufacturing technologies have rapidly evolved and are now an effective tool adopted for final components production. 3D printing techniques allow to realize complex geometries that are difficult if not impossible to fabricate by means of conventional production methods. This peculiarity can be exploited to design and manufacture infill structures that can be used in various engineering applications. Combining lightweight 3D printed infill structures with conventional laminate carbon-epoxy composites can be an efficient way to realize light and stiff components that find their optimal use in crash absorbing applications. Plain polymers and fiber reinforced polymers composites represent an interesting solution for additive manufacturing, offering light weight and ductility of the polymeric matrix with the possible enhancement of mechanical properties with the addition of fibers. This work focuses on the study of commercially available 3D printed infill structures via compression tests on cubic samples, deepening understanding about different densities and different strain rates effects on material's behavior.