3D Printed Composites With Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforcements

Additively manufactured polymers can be reinforced with high-performance reinforcements such as carbon fibers. Printed thermoplastics with embedded continuous carbon fibers are up to two orders of magnitude stronger and stiffer than high-grade 3D printed polymers. In this work, the mechanical response of such 3D printed carbon fiber specimens is evaluated. While the precursor carbon fiber reinforced filaments achieve a stiffness of 50GPa and strength 700MPa, mechanical properties of their printed parts are highly affected by printed carbon fiber curvatures. In this work, the structure of 3D printed parts was examined, and some design rules for 3D printing with continuous carbon fibers are suggested. Moreover, failure mechanisms in these samples are discussed and correlated to the micro-structure of the composites and the carbon fiber configuration.