Composite material based laminated object manufacturing (LOM) process simulation

Abstract

In laminated object manufacturing process (LOM) as a rapid manufacturing technique, the key process parameters for achieving a successful prototype are the roller temperature, the roller speed, the roller indentation and the laser cutting time. In addition to these basic process parameters, the material properties and the configuration of the parts affect the internal stresses, local deformations built during the process and the bonding quality. A finite element method was adopted to simulate the thermal aspects of the bonding process along with the structural deformation of the part. Thermal and stress analysis was carried out to calculate the interlaminar shear strength between layers. Experiments were conducted to verify the simulation result for the internal temperature profiles. The finished prototype was tested mechanically to measure interlaminar shear strength to estimate the bonding quality. The calculated bonding quality was compared with the bonding strength converted from the measured interlaminar shear strength, showing a good agreement between the two. In compliance with the increasing demand for high-strength working prototypes, the developed simulation code can simulate the incorporation of new material for the LOM process.