Modelling and Evaluation of the Methods for Compression Testing of Thermoplastics

Abstract: The application of thermoplastics as load-carrying components in furniture applications is an attractive prospect at IKEA. Thermoplastics can be used instead of metal where advanced geometries and aesthetics are considered. In this thesis work in solid mechanics, it is of interest to investigate different test setups proposed in the literature for compression testing of thermoplastics while taking into account the complex stress fields induced in the test samples during the compression test.  The simulations have showed that the main cause of complex stress fields in compression test specimens is the presence of friction between the specimen and the machine heads. Friction prevents perfect Poisson contractions during the test which shifts the orientation of the local stress tensors from the direction of loading. Out of the shapes investigated in this thesis, it has been concluded that cube-shaped specimens were the most suitable to utilize in compression tests. The results were based on exploiting measures that pertain to accuracy and robustness parameters within stress and strain. Furthermore, manufacturing impact and ease of test measurements were considered.