Performance-driven 3D printing of continuous curved carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites: A preliminary numerical study

Abstract

This paper presents a new concept to place continuous curved fibres for carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, which can be fulfilled by potential additive or hybrid manufacturing technology. Based on the loading condition, principal stress trajectories are generated through finite element analysis (FEA) and used as the guidance for the placement paths of carbon fibres. Three numerical cases including an open-hole single ply lamina under uniaxial tension and open-hole cross-ply laminate under biaxial tension and normal pressure are studied and compared with traditional reinforced composites with unidirectional fibres. The modelling results show that the stress concentration in both fibre and matrix are reduced significantly by the curved fibre placement and the stiffness of CFRP composites have been improved. This concept of performance-driven optimization method could lead to a useful tool for the design of future 3D printing process for fibre reinforced composites.

3D Printing of Fibre-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Using Fused Filament Fabrication—A Review

“…The use of 3D printing to minimise stress concentrators such as holes and notches has been explored in a number of modelling studies [ 67 , 68 ]. Stress concentrators are a major cause of the early/catastrophic failure of fibre composites.…”

“…This study did not consider the width of a 3D printed fibre filament, and filaments are still cut at the point they reach the perimeter of the hole, meaning that fibre damage was also not accounted for at the point of cutting. Zhang et al [ 68 ] performed a similar study; however, material properties were taken from the 3D printed composite literature, rather than the conventional composite values used by Yamanaka. Laminates were tested in single ply and cross ply configurations.…”

Ply and interlaminar behaviours of 3D printed continuous carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic laminates; effects of processing conditions and microstructure

“…Advanced numerical models based on advanced failure criteria and continuum damage mechanisms were developed for the design of these laminates, and were successfully tested on components manufactured by Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) [9][10][11]. Although some preliminary studies have been carried out [12][13][14], the applicability of 3D-printing technology for the manufacture of non-conventional laminates is still to be developed. To design and manufacture these types of structures with 3D-printing, the printing process limitations and the mechanical behaviour of the printed materials must be known in depth.…”

Three-Dimensional Printing of Continuous Flax Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites by Five-Axis Machine

“…Tekinalp et al [19], Ning et al [20,21], Anwer et al [22], Jaszkiewicz et al [23], and Ferreira et al [24] studied different aspects of the above. In experiments with continuous fiber-reinforced composites, Tian et al [25][26][27], Yao et al [28], Zhang et al [29], and Hao et al [30] studied composite behavior and printing using continuous carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CCFRP). On this basis, Hu et al [31] manufactured continuous carbon fiber prepreg filaments, in which the flexural strength of the final printed parts can reach as much as 610 MPa.…”