Photooxidative ageing of 3D printed polymers PLA, ABS, PET, HIPS and PC induced by long-term UV radiation

Jan Tomastik; Karolina Siskova; Lukas Vaclavek; Radim Ctvrtlik

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2606.00068

Photooxidative ageing of 3D printed polymers PLA, ABS, PET, HIPS and PC induced by long-term UV radiation

Jan Tomastik·Karolina Siskova·Lukas Vaclavek·Radim Ctvrtlik

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

This article focuses on the influence of long-term UV radiation exposure on mechanical and structural properties of selected polymeric materials (PLA, ABS, PC, PETG, HIPS) prepared using 3D-print based Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) method. Existing research in the field of polymers weathering has been focused more on the combined effects so far, moreover on time scales not exceeding units of months. However, it is important to separate individual effects to understand the dynamics of material changes and design strategies to improve material resistance. Our research thus focuses on UV-affected ageing of the selected polymers for time duration exceeding 10 months (7744 consecutive hours, i.e. 322 days), performed in an environmental cell with controlled humidity and temperature. Mechanical properties were evaluated by a locally sensitive nanoindentation method. Surface properties, depth property profiles, and creep were studied as well. Hardness and modulus of elasticity data were obtained for a wide range of samples. Based on our analysis of mechanical properties, the highest UV resistances are characteristic for PLA and PC. On the contrary, noticeable changes of mechanical properties occur in the ABS and HIPS samples (even at greater depths), leading to an embrittlement of the former material. Changes in mechanical properties even in strongly affected samples (PETG) were only evident to depths <10 um. For the selected samples (PLA, ABS, PETG), vibrational spectroscopies (Raman scattering and infrared absorption) were exploited to gain a deeper insight into polymers structural changes. Vibrational spectra supported the results of mechanical properties tests: while PLA revealed no significant changes from the structural viewpoint; ABS and PETG showed differences in characteristic as well as deformation vibrations.

Explore related subjects

physics.app-ph cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Jan Tomastik, Karolina Siskova, Lukas Vaclavek, Radim Ctvrtlik. 2026-05-20. Photooxidative ageing of 3D printed polymers PLA, ABS, PET, HIPS and PC induced by long-term UV radiation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.00068

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Pendellösung length-scale neutron and X-ray interferometry

Neutron and X-ray perfect-crystal interferometers (PCIs) are powerful platforms for studies of fundamental physics and phase-contrast imaging. Further enhancing several PCI capabilities requires reducing crystal blade thickness to the micron scale, which minimizes dynamical-diffraction image blur, permits operation in the pendellösung regime where blade thickness controls beam splitting, and reduces absorption for simultaneous neutron and X-ray operation. However, fabricating multiple crystal blades with identical micrometer-scale thicknesses over centimeter-scale areas remains a major challenge. Here, using a non-etching sub-micron fabrication technique, we demonstrate silicon triple-Laue interferometers with equal-blade-thicknesses of 110 $μ$m and 350 $μ$m, operated with both neutrons and X-rays. These devices are the thinnest PCIs realized to date, enabling a factor-of-six reduction in dynamical-diffraction beam spreading for improved phase-contrast imaging, while reaching the single pendellösung length regime in which crystal thickness provides an experimentally accessible control parameter for engineered quantum-optical beam splitting of plane-wave inputs. These results motivate multi-blade PCI designs utilizing identical half-pendellösung crystal lamellae that are proposed for neutron spin--orbit and electric dipole moment measurements.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2026

A State-Space Framework for trivial and Topological Metamaterial Stochastic Analysis

Topological phononic crystals and elastic metamaterials support edge states defined by global topological invariants, offering a route toward vibration-control and wave-guiding devices that remain functional in the presence of defects. However, manufacturing-induced spatial variability can perturb these invariants and compromise their robustness, making its quantification essential during design. In this work, we first demonstrate that a previously proposed linear time-varying (LTV) formulation is mathematically equivalent to the spectral element method based on transfer matrices for elementary rod, Saint-Venant shaft, and Euler-Bernoulli beam theories. The deterministic formulation is then extended to stochastic analyses through a stochastic linear time-varying (SLTV) framework. The proposed methodology combines Monte Carlo simulations with stochastic Fourier series and an analytical Karhunen--Loève expansion, providing closed-form stochastic fields and their derivatives required by the LTV formulation. The SLTV approach enables the computation of stochastic dispersion diagrams and forced responses of one-dimensional waveguides with arbitrarily varying geometry and mechanical properties. Because the LTV-based transition matrix isolates individual wavemodes without requiring the mode tracking needed by conventional eigenproblem-based formulations, the framework is particularly suited for evaluating topological invariants, specifically the Zak phase, and assessing the robustness of topological bands under spatial variability. Numerical results for rods, shafts, and Euler-Bernoulli beams demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework as a unified methodology for deterministic and stochastic analyses of trivial and topological periodic waveguides under continuous spatial uncertainty.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2026

Low-loss phononic integrated circuits based on a silicon nitride-lithium niobate platform

Microwave-frequency acoustic waves in solids have emerged as a versatile platform for both classical and quantum applications. While phononic integrated devices and circuits are being developed on various material platforms, an ideal phononic integrated circuit (PnIC) platform should simultaneously support low-loss waveguide structures, high-quality-factor resonators, high-performance modulators, and efficient electromechanical transducers. Here, we establish a low-loss gigahertz-frequency PnIC platform based on patterned thin-film silicon nitride (SiN) on lithium niobate (LN) substrate. We develop low-loss PnIC building blocks including waveguides, directional couplers, and high-quality-factor (high-Q) ring resonators. As an application, we demonstrate a 1-GHz phononic oscillator based on a ring resonator, reaching a low phase noise of -159.0 dBc/Hz at a 100-kHz offset frequency. Our low-loss PnICs could meet the requirements in microwave acoustics, quantum phononics, and integrated hybrid systems combining phonons, photons, superconducting qubits, and solid-state defects.

physics.app-ph↗