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Experimental Characterization of Material behavior for a 3D Printing Process of Carbon Fiber Composites
The novel approach of additively printing (3D printing) complex fiber composite structures without the use of formwork or molds will be investigated within the scope of this thesis.
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is an emerging and potentially revolutionary technology aimed at small volume manufacturing for highly customized applications, e.g. aerospace, medical devices, and replacement parts. However, the processing technology still requires development before it can be used to manufacture final parts beyond mere prototypes. The AM of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites, in particular, presents its own set of challenges compared to processes that work with neat polymers, metals, and ceramics due to the anisotropy of the material.
Continuous Lattice Fabrication (CLF), a patented technology developed at the ETH Zurich, is the first to present a truly 3D fabrication process for composite material not based on layer by layer build ups, capable of fabricating out-of-plane reinforcements.
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is an emerging and potentially revolutionary technology aimed at small volume manufacturing for highly customized applications, e.g. aerospace, medical devices, and replacement parts. However, the processing technology still requires development before it can be used to manufacture final parts beyond mere prototypes. The AM of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites, in particular, presents its own set of challenges compared to processes that work with neat polymers, metals, and ceramics due to the anisotropy of the material. Continuous Lattice Fabrication (CLF), a patented technology developed at the ETH Zurich, is the first to present a truly 3D fabrication process for composite material not based on layer by layer build ups, capable of fabricating out-of-plane reinforcements.
The ability to AM complex curvatures from fiber composite materials without the use of formwork or molds is a tremendous step forward in advanced composite processing and has been proven in a previous study. Further investigations on the printing process and the constituent materials need to be conducted to fully understand the material behavior. The goal of the thesis is to determine the necessary material characteristics, which can be then fed into a predictive model for tool path optimization. The thesis objective in the context of the CLF project contains the following:
- Literature research on slender and highly curved fiber composite structures (architecuture, manufacturing technologies etc.)
- Experimental material characterization for the consituent material (Carbon/Thermoplastic)
- Validation of experimental material data by applying an existing predicitve model to anticipate the printing behavior
- Fabrication of demonstrator structure (e.g. spring structure)
The ability to AM complex curvatures from fiber composite materials without the use of formwork or molds is a tremendous step forward in advanced composite processing and has been proven in a previous study. Further investigations on the printing process and the constituent materials need to be conducted to fully understand the material behavior. The goal of the thesis is to determine the necessary material characteristics, which can be then fed into a predictive model for tool path optimization. The thesis objective in the context of the CLF project contains the following:
- Literature research on slender and highly curved fiber composite structures (architecuture, manufacturing technologies etc.) - Experimental material characterization for the consituent material (Carbon/Thermoplastic) - Validation of experimental material data by applying an existing predicitve model to anticipate the printing behavior - Fabrication of demonstrator structure (e.g. spring structure)