Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify the effect of material type (matrix and reinforcement) and process parameters, on the mechanical properties of 3D Printed long-fibre reinforced polymer composites manufactured using a commercial 3D Printer (Mark Two). The effect of matrix material (Onyx or polyamide), reinforcement type (Carbon, Kevlar®, and HSHT glass), volume of reinforcement, and reinforcement lay-up orientation on both Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and Flexural Modulus were investigated.For Onyx, carbon fibre reinforcement offered the largest increase in both UTS and Flexural Modulus over unreinforced material (1228 ± 19% and 1114 ± 6% respectively). Kevlar® and HSHT also provided improvements but these were less significant. Similarly, for Nylon, the UTS and Flexural Modulus were increased by 1431 ± 56% and 1924 ± 5% by the addition of carbon fibre reinforcement. Statistical analysis indicated that changing the number of layers of reinforcement had the largest impact on both UTS and Flexural Strength, and all parameters were statistically significant.
Highlights
Developments in composites compositions, and understanding the design and manufacturing using Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an important research field today [1], which can be seen from Wohler’s Report 2016, that production of end use parts represented 51% of the worldwide market using AM, with Material Extrusion being the most widely used method [2]; the reason being high demand of these materials in the aerospace and automobile sectors due to them being light-weight, having high static strength, good fatigue resistance and damage tolerance [3, 4]
The aim of this paper is to characterise the mechanical performance of two common matrix materials employed in Material Extrusion (polyamide (PA) and Onxy (PA-carbon fibre composite) thermoplastics) with a range of fibre reinforcements (High Strength High Temperature Glass Fibre - HSHT (GF), Poly paraphenylene terephthalamide (Kevlar®) Fibre (KF), and Carbon Fibre (CF)), and processed using a range of build parameters
This paper aims to provide product designers, and users of commercial continuous fibre AM technology, with a knowledge base capturing the impact and statistical significance of the choice of base material, the reinforcement material, and some key build parameters; allowing them to make informed decisions in the choice of materials and parameters to meet their design needs
Summary
Developments in composites compositions, and understanding the design and manufacturing using Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an important research field today [1], which can be seen from Wohler’s Report 2016, that production of end use parts represented 51% of the worldwide market using AM, with Material Extrusion being the most widely used method [2]; the reason being high demand of these materials in the aerospace and automobile sectors due to them being light-weight, having high static strength, good fatigue resistance and damage tolerance [3, 4]. One of the most important applications is in light-weighting in the aerospace sector, one widely recognised being the main fuselage and the wings of the Boeing 787 being composite, and in total 50% of the material used in the aircraft is advanced composites. This reduces the maintenance requirements and cost, and increases the total reliability of the aircraft, reducing the weight by 20% [5]. The fuel efficiency can be increased by lightweighing cars, with the use of thermoplastic or thermoset composites instead of steel. The energy absorption for some thermoplastic composites can be 7–8 times that of traditional steel [7], offering opportunities for improved crash protection
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