Highly loaded carbon fiber filaments for 3D-printed composites

Abstract

Composites play progressively significant roles across a spectrum of applications involving high-performance materials and products within industries such as aerospace, naval, automotive, construction, missiles, and defense technology. Notably, oriented fiber composites have garnered substantial attention due to their advantageous attributes like a high strength-to-weight ratio and controlled anisotropy. Nonetheless, challenges persist in uneven fiber alignment, fiber clustering within the matrix material, and constraints on fiber volume, impeding the mass production of oriented fiber-reinforced composites. In this study, we present a novel approach to 3D printing of uniformly aligned short fiber reinforcement in a composite of heavily loaded carbon and nylon. Capitalizing on the additive manufacturing potential of rapidity and precision, the extrusion process induces carbon fiber (CF) alignments in filaments via shear forces. The 3D-printed structures that were created displayed impressive potential for customization. They consistently demonstrated improved mechanical and thermal properties when compared to the original nylon structures. Our methodology for producing uniformly dispersed and aligned short fiber reinforcement in polymer composites promises to propel the advancement of design and manufacturing for high-performance composite materials and components.