Arman Heydari, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Jaime Lloret, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
The mechanical response of a 3D-printed Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) container under uniform external pressure is examined in this study. The container is produced using additive manufacturing, where the presence of infill plays an important role in the overall behavior. For this reason, the effect of infill is not ignored. Instead, effective material properties are estimated using a Representative Volume Element (RVE) model and later applied in the finite element analysis of the full container. The numerical simulations correspond to external pressures associated with depths of 50, 70, and 100 m. At each depth, the stress distribution and displacement of the structure are evaluated. The results do not show any sudden changes in behavior within this range. Both stress and deformation increase with pressure, and the response remains essentially linear elastic. When the results obtained for the solid material are compared with those including infill-based properties, differences in deformation become evident. The maximum stress values, however, remain very similar. This observation suggests that infill mainly affects stiffness rather than stress level. From a practical point of view, the container can be considered safe up to 100 m in depth when compared with the reported yield stress of ASA. The approach used in this work may therefore be helpful during the early stages of design.