Composites science and technology

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the fastest-growing additive manufacturing methods used in printing fibre-reinforced composites (FRC). The performances of the resulting printed parts are limited compared to those by other manufacturing methods due to their inherent defects. Hence, the effort to develop treatment methods to overcome these drawbacks has accelerated during the past few years. The main focus of this study is to review the impact of those defects on the mechanical performance of FRC and therefore to discuss the available treatment methods to eliminate or minimize them in order to enhance the functional properties of the printed parts. As FRC is a combination of polymer matrix material and continuous or short reinforcing fibres, this review will thoroughly discuss both thermoplastic polymers and FRCs printed via FDM technology, including the effect of printing parameters such as layer thickness, infill pattern, raster angle and fibre orientation. The most common defects on printed parts, in particular, the void formation, surface roughness and poor bonding between fibre and matrix, are explored. An inclusive discussion on the effectiveness of chemical, laser, heat and ultrasound treatments to minimize these drawbacks is provided by this review.

FDM-Based 3D Printing of Polymer and Associated Composite: A Review on Mechanical Properties, Defects and Treatments.

Adhesion and Adhesives Edited by Dr. R. Houwink and Dr. G. Salomon. Vol. 1: Adhesives. Second, completely revised edition. Pp. xvi + 548. (Amsterdam, London and New York: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1965.) 135s.

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Adhesion and Adhesives

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Recent progress in additive manufacturing of fiber reinforced polymer composite

Additive manufacturing of fiber reinforced composites is of great interest in various industrial applications. In this study, an innovative extruder is designed and manufactured for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers in order to produce continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRT) composites. There are some challenges along this way such as making tension in fiber, fiber surface preparation, printing temperature and feed rate to produce a composite part with good quality. These challenges are discussed in detail. The main advantage of this extruder is that it can be mounted on the available FDM 3D printers and consequently there is no need to design a new chassis. In order to assess the quality of products, standard tensile and three-point bending specimens made of pure poly lactic acid (PLA) and carbon fiber reinforced PLA are printed and tested under quasi-static loading. Experimental results show significant improvements of tensile and bending properties of PLA. Morphological analysis is also conducted to study the bonding between the carbon fiber and PLA.

Mechanical characterization of FDM 3D printing of continuous carbon fiber reinforced PLA composites

Characterization of 3D printed long fibre reinforced composites

The behavior of the fiber–matrix interface under transverse tension is studied by means of a new linear elastic–brittle interface model. Similar models, also called weak or imperfect interface models, are frequently applied to describe the behavior of adhesively bonded joints. The interface is modeled by a continuous distribution of linear-elastic springs which simulates the presence of a thin adhesive layer (interphase). In the present work a new linear elastic–brittle constitutive law for the continuous distribution of springs is introduced. In this law the normal and tangential stresses across the undamaged interface are, respectively, proportional to the relative normal and tangential displacements. This model not only allows for the study of crack growth but also for the study of crack onset. An important feature of this law is that it takes into account the variation of the fracture toughness with the fracture mode mixity of a crack growing along the interface between bonded solids, in agreement with previous experimental results. The present linear elastic–brittle interface model is implemented in a 2D boundary element method (BEM) code to carry out micromechanical analysis of the fiber–matrix interface failure in fiber-reinforced composite materials. It is considered that the behavior of the fiber–matrix interphase can be modeled by the present model although, strictly speaking, there is usually no intermediate material between fiber and matrix. A linear-elastic isotropic behavior of both fiber and matrix is assumed, the fiber being stiffer than the matrix. The failure mechanism of an isolated fiber under transverse tension, i.e., the onset and growth of the fiber–matrix interface crack, is studied. The present model shows that failure along the interface initiates with an abrupt onset of a partial debonding between the fiber and the matrix, caused by presence of the maximum radial stress at the interface, and this debonding further develops as a crack growing along the interface.

BEM analysis of crack onset and propagation along fiber–matrix interface under transverse tension using a linear elastic–brittle interface model

A new linear elastic and perfectly brittle interface model for mixed mode is presented and analysed. In this model, the interface is represented by a continuous distribution of springs which simulates the presence of a thin elastic layer. The constitutive law for the continuous distribution of normal and tangential initially-linear-elastic springs takes into account possible frictionless elastic contact between adherents once a portion of the interface is broken. A perfectly brittle failure criterion is employed for the springs, which enables the study of crack onset and propagation. This interface failure criterion takes into account the variation of the interface fracture toughness with the fracture mode mixity. A unified way to represent several phenomenological both energy and stress based failure criteria is introduced. A proof relating the energy release rate and tractions at an interface point (not necessarily a crack tip point) is introduced for this interface model by adapting Irwin’s crack closure technique for the first time. The main advantages of the present interface model are its simplicity, robustness and computational efficiency, even in the presence of snap-back and snap-through instabilities, when the so-called sequentially linear (elastic) analysis is applied. This model is applied here in order to study crack onset and propagation at the fibre-matrix interface in a composite under tensile/compressive remote biaxial transverse loads. Firstly, this model is used to obtain analytical predictions about interface crack onset, while investigating a single fibre embedded in a matrix which is subjected to uniform remote transverse loads. Then, numerical results provided by a 2D boundary element analysis show that a fibre-matrix interface failure is initiated by the onset of a finite debond in the neighbourhood of the interface point where the failure criterion is first reached (under increasing proportional load); this debond further propagates along the interface in mixed mode or even, in some configurations, with the crack tip under compression. The analytical predictions of the debond onset position and associated critical load are used for several parametric studies of the influence of load biaxiality, fracture-mode sensitivity and brittleness number, and for checking the computational procedure implemented.

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A linear elastic-brittle interface model: application for the onset and propagation of a fibre-matrix interface crack under biaxial transverse loads

Modelling interfacial debonds in unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites under biaxial transverse loads

A new fracture criterion able to predict crack onset and propagation at interfaces between solids is formulated, implemented in a computational code and applied to a particular problem in composites on a microscale. More specifically, this criterion is used to study the debond onset and propagation in mixed mode in the case of a single fibre subjected to a biaxial remote loading. The fracture criterion formulation is based on the Linear Elastic-(Perfectly) Brittle Interface Model (LEBIM) combined with a Finite Fracture Mechanics (FFM) approach, where the stress and energy criteria are suitably coupled. Each of these criteria is a necessary but not sufficient condition for crack onset and propagation. Two empirical mixed-mode fracture criteria are considered and tested: the interface fracture toughness law by Hutchinson and Suo and the quadratic stress criterion. The FFM + LEBIM approach developed offers an adequate characterization of the interface stiffness in contrast to the too restrictive, original LEBIM formulation.

L. Távara

Papers

Characterization of 3D printed long fibre reinforced composites

BEM analysis of crack onset and propagation along fiber–matrix interface under transverse tension using a linear elastic–brittle interface model

A linear elastic-brittle interface model: application for the onset and propagation of a fibre-matrix interface crack under biaxial transverse loads

Modelling interfacial debonds in unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites under biaxial transverse loads

Crack onset and propagation at fibre–matrix elastic interfaces under biaxial loading using finite fracture mechanics