3D printing of continuous kevlar reinforced polymer composite through coextrusion method

Abstract

The major drawbacks of 3D printed thermoplastic using fused deposition method (FDM) are exhibit weak mechanical properties. This reduces the usability of the printed part as the functional structure for part replacement in a real-world application. Therefore, in this study a co-extrusion of a continuous fibre of twisted Kevlar using FDM is conducted to examine the improvement of mechanical strength of the 3D printed part with reinforcement of continuous fibre. The coextruded reinforced plastic (CRP) parts consisting of polylactic acid (PLA) as matrix and twisted Kevlar as core fibre. The mechanical performance of printed parts was evaluated in a tensile test under ASTM D638 standard. The results of both CRPs were compared against unreinforced PLA which. It has been demonstrated that CRPs with twisted Kevlar was able to achieve significant increment in Ultimate tensile strength (+179.7%, 104.64MPa), maximum tensile strain (+257%, 5.384%) and relative similar Young’s modules (3.29GPa) compared to unreinforced PLA. As a result, this study created a unique material print which CRP with twisted Kevlar which offer high stiffness and high strength structure.