Abstract
Multifunctional composites offer a higher strength to weight ratio, electrical properties, etc., thereby providing possible solutions for replacing the physical electrical wirings in aircraft. The lack of research on the coupled multifunctional characterization of 3D printed composites flexural-electrical properties is the main reason for its unsuitability in aerospace applications. The proposed method evaluates multifunctional flexural-electrical properties of 3D printed multifunctional carbon fiber composites. Traditional methods for conducting structural and electrical analyses for aircraft certification do not accommodate new technologies that are not yet proven. Such technologies are additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, multifunctional composite structures, and the certification requirements for 3D printed multifunctional carbon fiber composites for use in aircraft. In this study, the multifunctional 3D printed specimens were concurrently evaluated for flexural-electrical properties using three-point bending and electrical conductivity tests. The results showed that the multifunctional properties included the maximum flexural strength of 271 MPa and the maximum electrical resistance of 55.1 G Ohms, with the failure modes and mechanisms found to be consistent with the traditional composites. Due to its infancy, the existing AM techniques, and the use of the multifunctional carbon fiber composites manufactured using those AM technologies, are not implemented on a large commercial scale.
Highlights
Traditional monofunctional analyses for unifunctional properties of aircraft structural components made from additively manufactured carbon fiber composites are well addressed and matured through various research and certification requirements
A lateral tensile failure mode that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the coupons was induced along its lower side in the outer fibers of the test coupons. This failure mode was found to be consistent with the failure mode from the flexural testing of the monofunctional carbon fiber composites conducted at an ambient temperature
This study investigated a new and novel method to evaluate the coupled multifunctional electro-flexural properties of the additively manufactured multifunctional continuous carbon fiber solid laminate composites at ambient temperature
Summary
Traditional monofunctional analyses for unifunctional properties of aircraft structural components made from additively manufactured carbon fiber composites are well addressed and matured through various research and certification requirements. While the test results showed that the coupons with the concentric carbon fiber infill pattern exhibited higher flexural strength and energy absorption capability than those with the isotropic carbon fiber infill pattern, the multifunctional properties, with respect to the coupled flexural-electrical evaluation of additively manufactured multifunctional composites at ambient temperature, was not addressed [4]. The multifunctional properties, such as the flexural and electrical properties on the same component, are not addressed yet
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