**7. Results and discussion**

Mechanical properties such as tensile and impact properties of 3D-printed nanocomposite were shown in **Figures 8**–**10**. **Figures 8** and **9** illustrate the tensile strength and modulus of neat acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and 3D-printed nanocomposite infused with different percentages of nanoclay. Although the tensile strength and stiffness vary with different loading percentages, the infusion of nanoclay increased both tensile strength and stiffness of neat acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, irrespective of loading weight percentages.

*Influence of Loading Nanoclay on Properties of the Polymer-based Composite DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108478*

#### **Figure 9.**

*Tensile stiffness of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and nanoclay-infused nanocomposite.*

However, superior tensile strength and modulus were achieved when 2%.wt nanoclay was infused. The addition of 2%.wt. improved tensile strength by 50% and increased acrylonitrile butadiene styrene tensile modulus by 90%. The apparent increase in tensile properties can be attributed to the presence of nanoclay serving as a reinforcing agent in the nanoclay-infused nanocomposite [35–37]. This performance depicts the strong positive effect on the pulling resistance of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Furthermore, the tensile strength and stiffness showed by acrylonitrile butadiene styrene solely depend on the amount of nanoclay infused as printed nanocomposite tensile properties increased with nanoclay loading. Infusion of nanoclay on every layer of printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene may have increased interfacial bonding, increasing resistance to pulling stresses.

#### **Figure 10.**

*Impact strength of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and nanoclay-infused nanocomposite.*

Besides, nanoclays are known for their stiffness, much stiffer than neat acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. This stiffness may be attributed to better resistance to stress yielding acrylonitrile butadiene styrene when subjected to pulling stress, resulting in nanocomposite stiffness improvement [35–37].

#### **7.1 3D-printed nanocomposite resistance to impact stress**

**Figure 10** shows resistance to impact stress of printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and nanoclay-infused nanocomposite. Similar to the trend observed in **Figures 8** and **9**, the impact strength of printed nanocomposite varies with nanoclay loading. Infusing nanoclay enhances the impact property of printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. 3D-printed nanocomposite infused with 3 wt.% exhibited superior impact resistance with 20% higher than neat acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. However, trivial increased impact strength was observed with a corresponding increase of nanoclay loading from 2 wt.% (3.93) to 3 wt.% (3.96). This resistance to sock performance of 3D-printed nanoclay-infused nanocomposite may be attributed to the critical loading efficiency of nanoclay at lower concentrations. Besides, the interfacial bonding introduced by nanoclay infused on the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene printed layers may be attributed to the improvement in impact strength observed.

The infusion of nanoclay strengthens the bonding at the interface of each printed layer, improving the energy absorption capability and impact strength. A sharp drop in impact resistance at loading higher than 3 wt.% of nanoclay may be attributed to particle agglomeration, causing focal stress areas that exhibited poor resistance to impact stress.
