The mechanical performance of 3D printed hierarchical honeycombs using carbon fiber and carbon nanotube reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene filaments

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to design hierarchical honeycombs as well as manufacturing such structures with a commercial 3D Printer using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technique. The materials under study are commercial filaments such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/carbon fibers (ABS/CF) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/carbon nanotubes (ABS/CNTs). The fabricated hierarchical honeycombs were examined by compression tests in order to evaluate the mechanical behaviour of such honeycomb 3D printed structures. The compression behaviour of the hierarchical honeycombs was assessed also with finite element analysis (FEA) and at the end there was a comparison with the experimental findings. The results reveal that the 2nd order hierarchy presented an increase both in stiffness and strength in comparison with the 0th and the 1st hierarchies which make such designs a suitable for structures require such properties. Also, the results reveal that ABS/carbon fiber constructs outperform the other materials under study.