A novel approach to manufacturing high-performance reclaimed carbon fiber composites via convergent flow-induced discontinuous fiber aligned placement (CFi-DFAP)

Abstract

As a low-cost and high-performance composite material, reclaimed carbon fiber (rCF) presents a practical and promising option. However, a challenge remains in controlling the fiber orientation of anisotropic rCF to exploit its outstanding properties fully. This study presents a novel method named Convergent Flow-induced Discontinuous Fiber Aligned Placement (CFi-DFAP) that reformats discontinuous fibers using convergent flow. The CFi-DFAP method enables the alignment and placement of rCF through an extrusion-deposition process. Experimental outcomes demonstrated that compared to random 6 mm-rCF and composites, aligned 6 mm-rCF and its composites exhibited substantial improvements in the preferential alignment degree, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity. The CFi-DFAP approach paves the way to freely control the discontinuous fibers' orientation and placement position, potentially facilitating the design and manufacturing of high-performance discontinuous fiber composite.