Mechanical Properties and Durometer Testing Relationship of Thermoplastic Polyurethane

In this paper, the effect of various additive manufacturing processing parameters on thermoplastic polyurethane’s mechanical properties and the durometer hardness testing were evaluated. Additive manufacturing of thermoplastics is a rapidly growing field in many areas, from hobbyists to manufacturing industries. Parts are built layer by layer following the slicing software settings that convert a 3D object into a group of 2D regions that resembles CNC code. There is a need to understand how the mechanical properties are affected by the process parameters compared to traditional injection molding manufacturing. This thermoplastic has use in many automotive industry applications and consumer products because of its elasticity and high abrasion resistance. A generic thermoplastic polyurethane, also known as flexible TPU, with Shore A durometer hardness of 95 was used for this task. It was found that the number of solid layers impacts the mechanical properties higher than other printing parameters. Maximum tensile strength of up to 51.4±6.0 MPa for 84.1±3.8 Shore A durometer hardness was measured.