Characterizing short-fiber-reinforced composites produced using additive manufacturing

Marcus Ivey,Garrett W Melenka,Jason P Carey,Cagri Ayranci

doi:10.1080/20550340.2017.1341125

Marcus Ivey, Garrett W Melenka + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/20550340.2017.1341125

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Abstract

Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM), a sub-branch of three-dimensional (3D) printing is growing in popularity. Test specimens were 3D-printed using commercial polylactic acid (PLA) filament, and PLA filament reinforced with short-carbon fibers (PLA/CF). As-printed specimens and specimens that were annealed at three different temperatures, then subjected to tensile testing. The internal microstructures of the samples were also examined. The effects of the short-carbon fiber fillers on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed PLA were investigated, and the effects of the annealing process on polymer crystallinity and mechanical properties. The annealing process was shown to increase the crystallinity of both sample groups, though no statistically significant effect of annealing on mechanical properties was observed. The tensile properties of the PLA and PLA/CF filaments showed that the addition of carbon fibers to the PLA filament led to a significant increase in elastic modulus of the MEAM samples.

Highlights

The implementation of additive manufacturing techniques, like three-dimensional (3D) printing has increased substantially due to the advent of low-cost, open-source printers
The dimensional accuracy of the ORD Solutions Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM) 3D printer was evaluated for both the polylactic acid (PLA) and PLA /CF filaments used in this study
This study examined the effect of different MEAM 3D printing filaments and the effect of applying a post-printing annealing procedure on the mechanical properties of MEAM 3D printed parts

Summary

Introduction

The implementation of additive manufacturing techniques, like three-dimensional (3D) printing has increased substantially due to the advent of low-cost, open-source printers. Additive manufacturing process can be sub-divided into seven categories.[1,2] The first three: material extrusion, material jetting, and powder bed fusion utilize thermal reaction bonding as state of fusion during production. Material extrusion has become very popular due to the ability to rapidly perform design cycle iterations with relatively low cost materials and with short print times. Material extrusion will be referred as Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (MEAM) in this manuscript. In MEAM, a polymeric filament is fed to the machine in a controlled manner. This filament passes through a hot chamber (extruding head) and molten. The melt is pushed out of the nozzle of the machine and deposited layer-

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