Additive manufacturing of continuous carbon fiber tubes and experimental investigation of the energy absorption capability under quasi-static loading

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming increasingly important in the field of mechanical engineering. Therefore, the mechanical performance of this new technology can have a huge impact on the component’s life. Hence, a fourth axis is added to an existing Fused Filament Fabrication printer and a customized slicing strategy is used. To meet the high demands of mechanical strength, a symmetrical layer stack-up with an alternating variation of the inclination angle is printed onto the fourth axis. Each tube consists of eight layers in total. Starting from α = 15° fiber angle [+15,-15,0,0]S up to α = 75° fiber angle with a 15° angle increase. Each layer has a height of t1 = 0.125 mm thickness adding up to a tube wall thickness of tw = 1 mm. These tubes are tested under quasi-static axial loading conditions in a universal testing machine.