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Additive Manufacturing: Continuous Fiber Placement and Continuous fiber 3D Printing?

Updated: Apr 4, 2022

Table of Content


Overview

  • Continuous fiber reinforcement is the key to achieving higher strength

  • The resin or matrix holding the fiber should have no voids and is not more than 35-38% of the structure

  • Either high voids or lower percentage reduces the performance exponentially

  • Fiber Placement: Works by pulling strips of fiber-plastic tapes and pressing it onto a predefined simple shape.

  • Fiber Printing: Extruding the filament through a heated nozzle in X-Y layers to create a highly complex shape.

  • Pure polymer printing: Extruding thermoset or thermoplastic plastic through a heated nozzle in X-Y layers to create a highly complex shape.

  • Hybridization: A combination of fiber placement and fiber printing applied to the manufacturing process

  • The best place to use each approach


Fiber

Composites typically comprise a polymer material and a reinforcing material, like continuous fiber. The composite material offers higher strength and stiffness compared to non-reinforced polymers due to the presence of fiber, the polymer plays the role of the stress distribution medium. Continuous fiber ensures the load is distributed across the length without a weak point.

Resin - Polymer - Matrix