Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Ultem® 9085 Fabricated by Fused-Deposition Modeling

Featured Application Ultem 9085 is a relative new material with well-known flame-retardant properties that has many applications in digital manufacturing and rapid prototyping. Thanks to its high mechanical performance, this material has potential applications in many fields, especially aerospace, automotive, and military industries which require a high strength-to-weight ratio. Abstract Fused-deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing technique which is widely used for the fabrication of polymeric end-use products in addition to the development of prototypes. Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in the scientific and industrial communities for new materials showing high performance, which can be used in a wide range of applications. Ultem 9085 is a thermoplastic material that can be processed by FDM; it recently emerged thanks to such good properties as excellent flame retardancy, low smoke generation, and good mechanical performance. A deep knowledge of this material is therefore necessary to confirm its potential use in different fields. The aim of this paper is the investigation of the mechanical and thermal properties of Ultem 9085. Tensile strength and three-point flexural tests were performed on samples with XY, XZ, and ZX building orientations. Moreover, the influence of different ageing treatments performed by varying the maximum reached temperature and relative humidity on the mechanical behavior of Ultem 9085 was then investigated. The thermal and thermo-oxidative behavior of this material was also determined through thermal-gravimetric analyses.