Effect of fiber set-up and density on mechanical behavior of robotic 3D-printed composites

Abstract

The further development of composite manufacturing methods is characterized by the progress of their mechanical properties which are widely used in many applications as automotive, aerospace, and marine industries. The automated composite production techniques are as follows: automatic tape layering, automatic fiber placement, and filament winding methods used in many industries. Photopolymerized composites and their additive manufacturing methods are promising with new advances in technology. This method for printing continuous fiber-reinforced plastic composite parts by a six-axis industrial robotic arm is based on fused deposition modeling technology. The objective of this work is to obtain a better understanding of the mechanical properties of robotic three-dimensional printed photopolymer resin continuous fiberglass–reinforced composites (CFGRCs) as a function of different printing speeds (10, 20 and 30 mm/s), fiber densities (45, 55 and 65%), and fiber orientations (0, 0/90 and ±45°). This work infers that mechanical properties are significantly affected by the fiber density and fiber orientation of CFGRC. With this method, approximately 300 MPa tensile strength can be obtained and structurally preferred instead of ferrous materials in many areas.