Authors:

Thomas Edgardo Schmitz

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Not specified

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About Paper:

Additive manufacturing (AM) of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites has recently received great interest in recent years as it enables faster prototyping, design flexibility, and reduced material waste. AM with discontinuous fiber is fast but lacks the strength benefit of continuous fiber. In contrast, AM with continuous fiber can produce prints with significantly higher stiffness and strength but have limited application due to low print speed and poor layer adhesion. To address this gap in AM technology, this research combined both discontinuous and continuous fiber printing through coextrusion to achieve a hybrid material which can undergo high print speeds and achieve high mechanical strength. The ratio of discontinuous to continuous fibers and the printing parameters were optimized for strength, stiffness, and consolidation through modeling and experimental trials. Tensile tests and microscopy were performed to determine the mechanical properties and observe any defects in printed samples. The results show a final material which can undergo a maximum print speed of 2000 mm/s and has a mechanical strength between those of continuous and discontinuous fiber. The material also demonstrates improvement compared to the dual extrusion method, which produces weaker interlayer bonds, thus achieving improved print quality when compared to related studies. This hybrid discontinuous and continuous AM technology offers a balance between speed and mechanical performance expanding the potential applications of additively manufactured fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites in fields including aerospace, automotive, and robotics. Keywords: Additive Manufacturing; Carbon Fiber; Mechanical Engineering

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

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Co-authors:

Thomas Edgardo Schmitz