Hybrid layout and additive manufacturing of continuous carbon/glass fibers reinforced composites, and its effect on mechanical properties

Abstract

Material extrusion has been applied to the preparation of continuous fiber reinforced resin composites successfully. However, due to the limitations of the characteristics of a single fiber material, the prepared composites usually can only obtain the reinforcement of a single properties. In this study, the effects of the content ratio and arrangement mode of carbon/glass fiber layers in the 3D printed composites on tensile and impact properties were investigated, and the influence of mixed fibers was analyzed by failure morphology. The hybrid continuous carbon/glass fiber reinforced nylon composite parts with good balanced tensile and impact properties were obtained in the experiment, compared with single carbon fiber reinforced nylon composites, the impact strength increased to 250% of the original, while the tensile strength lost only 7%. Tensile strength and impact strength of the printed hybrid composites with the same fiber content and different arrangement are different by 20% and 35%, respectively. The tensile strength of 3D printed hybrid continuous fiber composites was accurately predicted by establishing a model considering hybrid effect.