Evaluation of nanocomposite structure printed by solid-state additive manufacturing

Abstract

Properties of polymer-metal hybrid structure printed by fed friction stir additive manufacturing (FFSAM) were evaluated. FFSAM is advanced solid-state additive manufacturing for the printing of macro-scale components for large stress-bearing situations. With the FFSAM, layer by layer printing of polymer and metal sheets convert to paste phase and join together as a uniform structure. With this process, during printing of hybrid structure, nanocomposite polymer is injected at the interface of base materials to fill voids and recover properties of the polymer matrix: polypropylene (PP) and stainless steel (SS) fabric selected as raw materials. During the printing process, Fe2O3 nanoparticles fed into the interface of PP and steel sheets. The mechanical and metallurgical characterization of printed [email protected]@Fe2O3 nanocomposite structure is evaluated. Macrostructure, tensile strength, hardness, and thermo-chemical properties of the printed structure were assessed and discussed. The result indicated that the In-situ feeding mechanism improves the physical and chemical properties of the printed structure. Reasonable properties achieved due to minimizing shrinkage gap in polymer side and improving sealing adhesion at interfaces of printed materials.