Additive Manufacturing of Geocells: Technological, Mechanical and Micro-Structural Aspects

Krishnaraj, C and Latha, GM (2024) Additive Manufacturing of Geocells: Technological, Mechanical and Micro-Structural Aspects. In: International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering, 10 (3).

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Abstract

Additive manufacturing of honeycomb shaped geocells using fused deposition 3D printing is explored in this study. The freedom to customize the strength and surface features of geocells is utilized through 3D printing of low-strength polypropylene sheets and ultrasonically welding them to manufacture interconnected networks of geocells. The processes involved and the optimal selection of printing parameters and welding time are discussed in detail. Through tensile strength tests and interface shear tests on polypropylene sheets and junction peel tests and junction shear tests on geocell connections, important information regarding the surface features of the geocell material and its mechanical strength were obtained. Further, results from triaxial compression tests on unreinforced sand and sand reinforced with 3D printed geocells were analysed to quantify the confinement effect of the 3D printed geocells. The 3D printed geocells remained intact without any damage, up to the tested axial strains of 20. Microscopic images of untested and tested geocells showed that sand particles got entrapped into the surface of the geocell, thus improving the interface response and in turn the shear strength of the sand. The study confirms the applicability of 3D printing technology for manufacturing customized geocells. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH.
Keywords:	Additives; Compression testing; Image enhancement; Polypropylenes; Sand; Tensile strength; Welding, 3-D printing; 3D-printing; Geocells; Innovation and infrastructure; Mechanical; Polypropylene sheets; Shear tests; Surface feature; Ultrasonic weldings; UN SDG 9, 3D printing
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Civil Engineering
Date Deposited:	29 May 2024 07:00
Last Modified:	29 May 2024 07:00
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/85016

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