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Consolidation of Additive Manufactured Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polyamide 12 Composites and the Development
Stefan Grieder1, Igor Zhilyaev1, Marco Küng1
1Institute of Polymer Engineering, FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Klosterzelgstrasse 2, 5210 Windisch, Switzerland.
Polymers
|August 26, 2022
Summary
Additive manufacturing with carbon fiber composites offers significant weight savings but suffers from porosity. Additive fusion technology and digital modeling reduce voids, enhancing structural integrity for 3D-printed parts.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Additive Manufacturing
Background:
- Additive manufacturing of high-performance polymers and carbon fibers enables over 40% weight reduction compared to metals.
- 3D-printed composites typically exhibit 10-30% porosity, compromising part quality and load-bearing capacity.
- Consolidation via additive fusion technology is crucial for achieving near-zero void content in structural composite parts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present advanced numerical methods for simulating the consolidation process of additive manufactured continuous carbon fiber reinforced polyamide 12 (PA12) composites.
- To enable upfront digital modeling of additive fusion for optimizing composite component production and reducing prototyping.
- To accurately predict key final part characteristics post-consolidation.
Main Methods:
- Development and application of advanced numerical methods to model the additive fusion/consolidation process.
- Digital modeling of the consolidation process for polyamide 12 (PA12) matrix composites.
- Validation of simulation results against experimental data from consolidation tests.
Main Results:
- The simulation accurately predicts the final degree of crystallization, process-induced deformation, and residual stresses.
- The developed workflow accurately determines final engineering constants and porosity levels.
- Experimental validation confirmed the simulation's accuracy in predicting final porosity, thickness, and fiber-volume ratio.
Conclusions:
- Additive fusion technology, guided by digital modeling, is essential for high-quality, load-bearing 3D-printed composite structures.
- Numerical simulation provides an accurate and efficient tool for optimizing the additive fusion process.
- This approach enhances the reliability and performance of additive manufactured continuous fiber-reinforced polymer composites.
