A compression–shear specimen for mechanical characterization of 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA)

The current study explores the mechanical behavior of 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) specimens under shear deformation, employing both numerical simulations and experimental testing. A compression–shear specimen was designed and optimized to convert a compression load into shear deformation in two symmetric gauge regions. A full factorial parametric study was employed to determine the optimal geometry of the specimen. The shear stress error is reduced from 86% of the initial specimen dimensions to 4% of the optimized one. The optimized design was produced using the fusion filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing technique. Compression–shear tests were performed using a universal testing machine, generating shear stress–shear strain curves. In addition, the shear modulus and shear yield stress were evaluated. The results align with previous findings reported in the literature, demonstrating that the proposed compression–shear specimen geometry is suitable for further experimental studies. Such studies could explore the impact of FFF process parameters on the shear behavior of PLA or other 3D-printed materials.