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The progression of manufacturing technology has significantly benefited from the adoption of 3D printing techniques, which enable the production of parts with intricate geometries. However, it is important to acknowledge that components fabricated through this additive manufacturing method frequently manifest defects and are prone to failure under severe conditions. Therefore, a thorough examination of the mechanical properties of these parts is essential to effectively reduce the failure. This study aimed to explore the mechanical properties of two prevalently used 3D-printed polymers, specifically Onyx and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), by integrating computational and experimental analyses. The experimental study utilized a material testing system and digital image correlation (DIC) technology, while the computational analysis covered the finite element (FE) modeling of the 3D-printed samples. The research focused on evaluating the tensile strength and fatigue resistance of the specimens printed in various orientations, alongside a detailed investigation of their fracture behavior. The crack propagation analysis was carried out using the DIC system and the separating morphing and adaptive re-meshing technology (SMART) scheme in ansys. It was observed that upright build orientation produced the weakest samples for axial loading and specimens with notches failed earlier than those without. Moreover, Onyx was found to have a higher resistance to fracture or failure compared to ABS. The FE modeling results demonstrated strong agreement with the experimental results, validating their accuracy and reliability in characterizing the critical mechanical response of 3D-printed parts rapidly and cost effectively.

The performance of the small-scale stand-alone energy harvesters can be improved by implementing a hybrid energy harvesting technique. This paper aims at presenting the design and characterization of a hybrid energy harvester that can simultaneously harvest energy from mechanical vibration and solar radiation by combining piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrostatic, and photovoltaic mechanisms. The hybrid device consists of a small high-efficiency solar panel and a bimorph PZT cantilever beam having a cylindrical tip magnet and two sets of capacitors (comb electrodes) attached on two sides of an ASTM 6061 T-6 Aluminum substrate. All the transducing sections of the configuration are interconnected by a smart hybrid electric circuit having a common optimum load resistance, an energy storage, and a microcontroller to generate and store combined power output when subjected to transverse vibration and solar radiation. The initial bias-voltage input required for the electrostatic mechanism is either obtained from the photovoltaic system or taken from the storage through the microcontroller. Results for the maximum power output are obtained at the fundamental resonance frequency of the vibrating cantilever beam. As the hybrid design allows a combined power harvesting method, more power is generated with better conversion efficiency than those obtained by stand-alone mechanisms. In addition to the power calculation, the study includes a stress and fatigue analysis of the cantilever beam using the finite element method to investigate the stress-life criteria of the hybrid structure.