This study evaluates the cavitation erosion characteristics of PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol), a thermoplastic material used in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. While additive manufacturing has been extensively studied with metallic materials, limited research has addressed the cavitation resistance of polymer-based printed components. In this work, PETG specimens were fabricated using FDM and subjected to cavitation erosion testing with a magnetostrictive vibratory apparatus. Initial tests revealed thermal failure due to internal heat accumulation caused by cavitation-induced energy. To mitigate this issue, the specimen design was modified to incorporate internal cooling structures, which enabled longer-duration testing without melting. Erosion tests lasting up to 300 minutes were successfully conducted. Surface morphology and material loss were quantitatively evaluated using a 3D optical profiler. The results showed typical cavitation erosion behavior, characterized by an incubation period, an acceleration phase, and a deceleration phase. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of using PETG in cavitation studies and suggest the potential of polymer-based additively manufactured materials for use in fluid-exposed environments.
ADACHI et al. (Wed,) studied this question.