Static and fatigue behaviour of continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites manufactured by fused deposition modelling technique

Continuous fibre-reinforced composites have significant industrial importance and usage. However, they are limited by design considerations and high-cost manufacturing operations. This article presents a way forward to utilize Fused Deposition Modelling – a 3D printing technique – to manufacture continuous carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. Several parameters including number of reinforced layers, material impact and interlayer gap have been investigated and optimized using response surface method. Successful incorporation of modified novel nozzle design in a dual nozzle setup resulted in the realization of controlled manufacturing of continuously reinforced composites leading to reinforced yet smooth surface finished samples. Several samples were made, and mechanical testing, parameter optimization, strength calculations and fracture analysis were carried out. For polylactic acid (PLA), tensile strength of 112 MPa and flexural strength of 164 MPA were achieved – an almost 3 times increase from pure PLA printing. The approach presented in this article can forward continuous fibre-reinforced composites for industrial usage with its controlled fibre layup and programmable thread orientation features.

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Flexural fatigue behaviour of random continuous-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites

Composites Science and Technology ◽

10.1016/s0266-3538(97)00221-2 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 58 (6) ◽

pp. 957-965 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

G. Caprino ◽

A. D'Amore

Keyword(s):

Fatigue Behaviour ◽

Thermoplastic Composites ◽

Flexural Fatigue ◽

Continuous Fibre

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Review of mechanical properties of and optimisation methods for continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic parts manufactured by fused deposition modelling

Progress in Additive Manufacturing ◽

10.1007/s40964-021-00187-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Handwerker ◽

Jörg Wellnitz ◽

Hormoz Marzbani

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Performance ◽

Fused Deposition Modelling ◽

Reinforced Plastics ◽

Fused Deposition ◽

Continuous Fibre ◽

Current State ◽

Thermoplastic Matrix ◽

Glass Fibre Reinforced ◽

Optimisation Methods ◽

Air Void

AbstractA new way of manufacturing continuous fibre-reinforced plastics is the embedding of fibres in the filament of a 3D printer. This method could be used in manufacturing composite materials with a thermoplastic matrix containing glass, Kevlar and carbon fibres. This paper provides an overview of research on the mechanical and physical properties of these parts as well as optimisation approaches of additively manufactured thermoplastics. Furthermore, applicable testing and analysis methods and their corresponding standards are included. Several studies, which represent the current state of the art, are reviewed in detail for the analysis of the mechanical performance of different fibre reinforcements. In addition, an overview of different optimisation approaches is given. The ultimate tensile strength of Kevlar and glass fibre-reinforced parts are similar to those of common Aluminium alloys whereas the carbon fibre reinforced parts outperform their aluminium counterparts. Major performance limitations include a poor adhesion between layers as well as a high air void ratio.

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Evaluation of geometrical benchmark artifacts containing multiple overhang lengths fabricated using material extrusion technique

JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCES ◽

10.15282/jmes.14.3.2020.28.0573 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 7296-7308

Author(s):

Siti Nur Humaira Mazlan ◽

Aini Zuhra Abdul Kadir ◽

N. H. A. Ngadiman ◽

M.R. Alkahari

Keyword(s):

3D Model ◽

Laser Scanner ◽

Dimensional Accuracy ◽

Fused Deposition Modelling ◽

Layer By Layer ◽

Fused Deposition ◽

Layer Technique ◽

Subtractive Manufacturing ◽

Manufacturing Features ◽

Layer Problem

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a process of joining materials based on material entrusion technique to produce objects from 3D model using layer-by-layer technique as opposed to subtractive manufacturing. However, many challenges arise in the FDM-printed part such as warping, first layer problem and elephant food that was led to an error in dimensional accuracy of the printed parts especially for the overhanging parts. Hence, in order to investigate the manufacturability of the FDM printed part, various geometrical and manufacturing features were developed using the benchmarking artifacts. Therefore, in this study, new benchmarking artifacts containing multiple overhang lengths were proposed. After the benchmarking artifacts were developed, each of the features were inspected using 3D laser scanner to measure the dimensional accuracy and tolerances. Based on 3D scanned parts, 80% of the fabricated parts were fabricated within ±0.5 mm of dimensional accuracy as compared with the CAD data. In addition, the multiple overhang lengths were also successfully fabricated with a very significant of filament sagging observed.

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Additive Manufacturing-Based In Situ Consolidation of Continuous Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Polycarbonate

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14092450 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (9) ◽

pp. 2450

Author(s):

Andreas Borowski ◽

Christian Vogel ◽

Thomas Behnisch ◽

Vinzenz Geske ◽

Maik Gude ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Carbon Fibre ◽

Bending Test ◽

Thermoplastic Composites ◽

Experimental Investigations ◽

Material Structure ◽

Three Point Bending ◽

Continuous Fibre ◽

Local Material

Continuous carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites have convincing anisotropic properties, which can be used to strengthen structural components in a local, variable and efficient way. In this study, an additive manufacturing (AM) process is introduced to fabricate in situ consolidated continuous fibre-reinforced polycarbonate. Specimens with three different nozzle temperatures were in situ consolidated and tested in a three-point bending test. Computed tomography (CT) is used for a detailed analysis of the local material structure and resulting material porosity, thus the results can be put into context with process parameters. In addition, a highly curved test structure was fabricated that demonstrates the limits of the process and dependent fibre strand folding behaviours. These experimental investigations present the potential and the challenges of additive manufacturing-based in situ consolidated continuous fibre-reinforced polycarbonate.

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