Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been successfully applied for the fabrication of polymer components ranging from prototypes to final products. An issue, however, is that the resulting 3D printed parts exhibit inferior mechanical performance to parts fabricated using conventional polymer processing technologies, such as compression moulding. The addition of fibres and other materials into the polymer matrix to form a composite can yield a significant enhancement in the structural strength of printed polymer parts. This review focuses on the enhanced mechanical performance obtained through the printing of fibre-reinforced polymer composites, using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing technique. The uses of both short and continuous fibre-reinforced polymer composites are reviewed. Finally, examples of some applications of FFF printed polymer composites using robotic processes are highlighted.
Last. Peng Yao(SDU: Shandong University)H-Index: 14
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Abstract Fused deposition modeling (FDM) has been successfully applied to fabricating short fiber reinforced polymer composites parts. However, due to the intrinsically limited mechanical properties of matrix polymers, there is critical need to develop fiber reinforced high-performance thermoplastic composites for FDM-3D printing to expand engineering applications. In this work, the potential of FDM-3D printing short carbon fiber (CF) and glass fiber (GF) reinforced high-performance PEEK composi...
Last. Phuong Tran(RMIT: RMIT University)H-Index: 32
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Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the fastest-growing additive manufacturing methods used in printing fibre-reinforced composites (FRC). The performances of the resulting printed parts are limited compared to those by other manufacturing methods due to their inherent defects. Hence, the effort to develop treatment methods to overcome these drawbacks has accelerated during the past few years. The main focus of this study is to review the impact of those defects on the mechanical performa...
Last. Yoshiyasu Hirano(JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)H-Index: 20
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Abstract In this study, we optimized the curved fiber trajectories to realize variable fiber volume fraction and stiffness composites (VVfSC) using a continuous fiber composite 3D printer. During optimization, the fiber orientation was maintained along the principal stress direction based on preliminary stress field calculations, and the fiber trajectories were subsequently obtained. The fiber volume fraction was calculated from the obtained fiber trajectories; then, stress field calculations an...
Abstract This study investigates the material and mechanical properties of both polyamide 12 (PA12) and reinforced glass bead PA12 composites, fabricated using a production scale additive manufacturing (AM) process. The printing studies were carried out using the production scale, Multi Jet Fusion powder bed fusion process. The study demonstrated that the chemical functionality and the thermal properties of the printed PA 12 parts and the glass bead composite, were similar. Almost identical infr...
#1Lin Sang(DUT: Dalian University of Technology)H-Index: 17
#2Shuangfeng Han(DUT: Dalian University of Technology)H-Index: 2
Last. Jinyan Wang(DUT: Dalian University of Technology)H-Index: 25
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Abstract In present work, fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite filaments consisting of polylactic acid, polycaprolactone and basalt fibers for 3D printing are developed and proposed. Mechanical test, dynamic mechanical analysis and rheology test are conducted to capture the mechanical, thermal and viscoelastic properties of 3D-printed PLA-PCL/KBF specimens. Then, circular honeycombs are fabricated using four ratios of filaments via fused deposition modeling technology, and the in-plane compr...
A new basalt fiber reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament has been developed for fused filament fabrication (FFF, 3D printing) to be used in Mars habitat construction. Building habitats on Mars will be expensive, especially if all material must be shipped from earth. However, if some materials can be used from Mars, costs will dramatically decrease. Basalt is easily mined from the surface of Mars. This study details the production process of the material, experimental results ...
Abstract A high-resolution X-ray microscope was used to quantitate the internal morphological characteristics of 3D-printed, basalt-fiber-reinforced PLA composites. 3D-printed composites have microstructures and mechanical properties that are distinct from those of conventional mold-pressed composites. One such distinction lies in the presence of voids, which form naturally during 3D printing. All of the composite components, including the fiber, the matrix, and the aforementioned voids were ori...
#2Jing Qiao(HIT: Harbin Institute of Technology)H-Index: 7
Last. Longqiu Li(HIT: Harbin Institute of Technology)H-Index: 18
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Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) of continuous fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) aims to achieve rapid prototyping of complex structures with superior properties. Among the conventional AM technology, the most widely used method, an extrusion-based way, causes poor fiber-resin bonding, which leads to undesirable structural performance. Particularly establishing an accurate algorithmic model to predict the overall mechanical behaviors is challenging. The existing models lack the description of t...
Last. Qingxi Hu(SHU: Shanghai University)H-Index: 12
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3D Printing, utilizing a layer-by-layer deposition of materials, is advantageous to manufacture parts as it involves fewer process steps, provides great flexibility for prototyping, especially of complex parts, and has low material waste. Yet, the mechanical properties of 3D printed parts have always been a concern due to the weak inter-layer bonding and rough surface. 3D printed continuous fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPCs) use continuous fiber reinforcements for the polymer matrix, w...
Abstract Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a promising additive manufacturing technology for the fabrication of continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites. However, a major concern is the performances of the interfacial bonding in these composites. The aim of this study is to evaluate the interface quality of a 3D printed carbon/PA6 composite at two scales: the filament/matrix scale and the interlaminar one. Two different types of samples were made: monofilament composites for perfor...
Passive vibration control using polymer composites has been extensively investigated by the engineering community. In this paper, a new kind of vibration dampening polymer composite was developed where oriented nylon 6 fibres were used as the reinforcement, and 3D printed unoriented nylon 6 was used as the matrix material. The shape of the reinforcing fibres was modified to a coiled structure which transformed the fibres into a smart thermoresponsive actuator. This novel self-reinforced composit...
Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most widely used raw material in extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) printing (fused deposition modeling, FDM approach) in many areas since it is biodegradable and environmentally friendly, however its utilization is limited due to some of its disadvantages such as mechanical weakness, water solubility rate, etc. FDM is a simple and more cost-effective fabrication process compared to other 3D printing techniques. Unfortunately, there are deficiencies of the FDM ap...
Lightweight thin-walled structures are crucial for many engineering applications. Advanced manufacturing methods are enabling the realization of composite materials with spatially varying material properties. Variable angle tow fibre composites are a representative example, but also nanocomposites are opening new interesting possibilities. Taking advantage of these tunable materials requires the development of computational design methods. The failure of such structures is often dominated by buc...
Fused filament fabrication (FFF), as a form of additive manufacturing (AM), in recent years, has become a popular method to manufacture prototypes, as well as functional parts. FFF is an extrusion process, commonly known as 3D printing, where the object is built by depositing melted material layer by layer. The most common materials, i.e., the materials that are most widely used, are polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA). Although t...
3D printed neat thermoplastic polymers (TPs) and continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTPCs) by fused filament fabrication (FFF) are becoming attractive materials for numerous applications. However, the structure of these materials exhibits interfaces at different scales, engendering non-optimal mechanical properties. The first part of the review presents a description of these interfaces and highlights the different strategies to improve interfacial bonding. The actual knowle...