Thermal buckling behavior of 3D printed foams: Plain, graded, and sandwich variants

The present work focuses on the experimental investigation of the thermal buckling response of 3D printed functionally graded glass micro balloon (GMB) reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites and their respective sandwiches under non-uniform heating conditions. The influences of GMB loading and its graded composition on temperature distribution are analyzed. The reinforcement of hollow GMB rendered lower thermal conductivity due to enhanced thermal resistance with an increase in filler percentage. An increased thermal buckling strength is also observed. Due to their non-uniform thermal expansion, functionally graded sandwich beams exhibited less deflection than plain beams. Among the cases of three heating conditions (One end heating: case-1, Center heating: case-2, both end heating: case-3), maximum deflection is observed in case 2 while the minimum deflection is noted in case 1. These printed foams can be utilized for lightweight thermal insulating pipes.