3D Printed Continous Fiber Reinforced Cellular Structures Material Properties

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Brian Lim

Abstract or Description

In the fields of aerospace and automotive, material property is a critical consideration for many applications where performance and weight need to meet a particular specification. Cellular structures and topology optimization is a tool that engineers are utilizing to fabricate lightweight parts with high stiffness-to-weight ratios. Many additive processes like fused fluid fabrication (FFF) 3D printing can produce these ultra-lightweight geometries, while traditional subtractive manufacturing processes cannot without taking a lot of time and money and wasting materials. It has also been known that adding continuous fibers to polymers can significantly enhance the material's stiffness without compromising the structure's weight. This project aims to determine the mechanical properties of 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced cellular structures (CFRCS). Many commercial continuous fiber 3D printers exist on the market, but their pre-processing algorithm significantly limits the freedom of fiber placement, and they are unable to fabricate these ultra-lightweight cellular structures. I have developed the first-of-its-kind G-code generation algorithm that can print CFRCS so that we can measure and improve the mechanical performance of CRFCS to facilitate the application of CFRCS in many engineering applications. I designed the toolpath for three different cell topologies (Hexagon, Quad, and Triangle), used my G-code algorithm to print CRFCS cellular structures, and tested their mechanical performance in compression tests against PETG samples. Initial findings were that PETG samples with the same geometries as our CFRCS outperformed our first generation of CFRCS samples and had strength-to-weight ratios 1.3-1.8 times larger than our CFRCS samples. Future work will focus on optimizing the G-code generation algorithm and toolpath to improve the mechanical performance of CFRCS. 3D printed CFRCS has the potential to produce ultra-lightweight high-performance parts, which helps products become more efficient and less wasteful.

Mentor

Guoying Dong