Interlaminar fracture toughness of 3D printed continuous carbon fibre- reinforced polyamide
- Iragi, M. 1
- Pascual-Gonzalez, C. 2
- Esnaola, A. 1
- Aurrekoetxea, J. 1
- Lopes, C. 2
- Aretxabaleta, L. 1
- 1 Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Production, Loramendi 4, Mondragon 20500 Gipuzkoa, Spain
- 2 Instituto IMDEA Materiales, C/Eric Kandel 2, 28906 Getafe, Madrid, España
ISSN: 2531-0739
Year of publication: 2022
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista de Materiales Compuestos
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Abstract
The technology of 3D printing of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics shows great potential in producing lightweight structural parts reinforced with steered fibres. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) printing technology based on pre-impregnated filament extrusion is currently the best performing, and is being successfully used to manufacture prototypes, factory tools, spare parts and custom products for sectors such as biomedical, aerospace and industrial [1,2].This process is still under development, and knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of printed composites is limited. In recent years, different studies have addressed the physical and mechanical characterisation of printed continuous fibre reinforced polymers [3-5]. It was observed that the mechanical behaviour of the material is highly conditioned by process-induced defects such as a large number of voids, non-homogeneous distribution of fibres and poor bonding between beads and layers. Most of these defects are caused by insufficient thermo-mechanical consolidation during the printing process.To promote the use of this new technology in the design of complex and optimised composite parts, further knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of the material is necessary. In this study, interlaminar fracture toughness under Mode I and II loading are characterised for a 3D printed continuous carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide (CCF/PA). The influence of the thermo-mechanical consolidation on fracture toughness is also analysed. For this purpose, the printed specimens were post-processed by hot-pressing.