Research Project

March 17, 2019

Research Project

Hi, my name is Mariaysela Varela I am majoring in environmental science. I have my Associates in Science and Associates in Art. I plan to continue my education at Arizona State University in the fall of 2019.

For my research project, I wanted to determine which material had a higher tensile strength Polylactic acid PLA, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Carbon Fiber, and Vero White Photo Resin. Determine if the grain layout of the plastic affects the tensile strength. (Short, Long, and Angular) Tensile strength testing is performed by taking a sample of the material that is often shaped like a “dog bone”, and the ends of the piece are placed in the lower and upper grips of the test machine. 

PLA is a biodegradable type of plastic that is manufactured out of plant-based resources such as corn starch or sugar cane. PLA is environmentally friendly, there are no harmful fumes during printing, and there is a higher 3d printing speed. The different types of materials led me to tensile testing which is a consideration of civil engineering. At South Mountain, I took some engineering classes and I wanted to see how an engineering test could be applied to environmental science. Since ABS and PLA filaments are the most commonly used for 3d printing I wanted to compare their characteristics.