continuous carbon fiber Archives - Perfect 3D Printing Filament

Arevo Announces New Aqua 2 Carbon Fiber 3D Printer, $25M in Series B Funding

Due to its stiffness, high strength-to-weight ratio, and the fact that it demonstrates anisotropic properties, carbon fiber has been used as a less expensive replacement material for metals such as titanium for decades, and has many applications in industrial sectors like aerospace and automotive. As you may know, Silicon Valley technology startup Arevo has long focused on continuous carbon fiber composites printing. Back in 2015, the company, which counts the CIA’s venture capital arm In-Q-Tel as an investor, developed a laser-based method for 3D printing carbon fiber with a multi-axis robotic arm. This technology, paired with quality design software, allows Arevo, and its customers, to automate the design and printing of large, complex, continuous CFRP composite parts.

“High speed automation removes human errors in traditional composites manufacturing,” the Arevo site states. “Our patented technology uses lasers to manufacture high quality composite parts at scale.”

Now, the California company is announcing its newest innovation: the Aqua 2 3D printing system. Arevo states in a press release that the new Aqua 2 is the first high-speed 3D printer in the world for large continuous carbon fiber composite structures. Additionally, it said that the Aqua 2 printer is of higher quality, can achieve rapid, on-demand fabrication of custom composite parts up to one cubic meter in size, and can also print four times faster than the 3D printer that came before it.

But its new Aqua 2 3D printer isn’t the only good news Arevo is sharing—the company also announced that it has closed its Series B financing round after raising an additional $25 million, bringing the total amount raised to $60 million.

Leaders of this round were GGV Capital and Defy Partners, and additional support came from Alabaster, previous investor Khosla Ventures, and more.

“We are excited to have Defy and GGVC on board to bring not only capital but a vast amount of strategic experience,” Arevo’s co-founder and chairman Hemant Bheda stated. “The strong interests in the company despite tough market conditions really reaffirm our vision.”

Aqua 2 Printer Head

Additionally, Defy has appointed serial entrepreneur and investor Brian Shin to join the board of directors at the startup, which also includes Bheda, Khosla’s Bruce Armstrong, and Arevo’s CEO Sonny Vu.

“Arevo is a compelling opportunity for us as it combines our three main investment foci: consumer internet, enterprise, and smart tech. We see fantastic potential in this market, and have backed Sonny before at Misfit,” said Hans Tung, a Managing Partner at GGVC. “Arevo is led by an experienced team with solid technological foundation and 3D printing manufacturing know-how at scale – to offer breakthrough products at competitive prices.”

Arevo has been historically well-funded over the years, and recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to sell its first direct-to-consumer products: the Superstrata bicycle and e-bike. The startup has used its technology to create bicycle frames before, but claims that its Superstrata products will be the first real custom 3D printed unibody carbon fiber bikes. This campaign has been so popular that within three minutes of launching, the goal of $100,000 had already been reached, and now it’s close to raising $4 million.

“Arevo’s new platform enables fabrication of high strength, low weight carbon fiber parts, currently not possible with today’s standard techniques. We are thrilled to be working with the team to help scale up this incredibly impactful technology,” said Trae Vassallo, founding partner at Defy.

Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic bracket

(Source/Images: Arevo)

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Arris Composites raises $48.5m to fund expansion in the US and China

California-based Arris Composites, a developer of continuous carbon fiber composites, has secured $48.5m in Series B funding in order to continue its expansion in Southeast Asia and the US. Operating in stealth mode until last year, Arris Composites has now raised a total of $58.5m in funding over two rounds of investment. A VC firm […]

State of the Art: Carbon Fiber 3D Printing, Part Two

In the first part of our series on carbon fiber 3D printing, we really only just got started by providing a background on the material, some of its properties, and how it’s made. Now that that’s out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff: how carbon fiber is currently available in the 3D printing industry.

Carbon Fiber Filaments

The most widely accessible form of carbon fiber in 3D printing is chopped carbon fiber filament. There are a wide variety of chopped carbon fiber blends available, with 3DXTECH offering some of the most diverse types that include high temperature thermoplastics as the matrix material. For instance, it’s possible to buy, PA, PEKK, PEEK, and PEI (ULTEM) filaments filled with chopped carbon fiber.

A manifold made with Innofil3D PET carbon fiber reinforced filament by FFF.

In chopped carbon fiber filament, segments of carbon fiber are mixed with thermoplastic pellets and then extruded into filament suited for extrusion 3D printing. Because the carbon fiber is broken, and not in continuous strands, it only offers the stiffness of carbon fiber at the points where those very small fragments are located.

Nevertheless, the introduction of carbon fiber into thermoplastic filament can improve its strength and stiffness but may also have negative effects, as well. One team of researchers found that, in addition to the desired strength, a PEEK-carbon fiber composite had more porosity and poor adhesion between printed layers. Another group found similar results with chopped carbon fiber in resin for stereolithography, including increased brittleness.

This doesn’t mean that chopped carbon fiber filament (or resin) doesn’t have value in 3D printing, particularly since it is much cheaper than the technologies that we will be going on to discuss. However, we will see in part three of this series how even these materials can be improved with some pretty ingenious thinking.

Continuous Carbon Fiber 3D Printing

In 2014, Markforged introduced continuous filament fabrication (CFF) to the world. In CFF, carbon fiber is pre-impregnated with a thermoplastic nylon, which is deposited from a specialty extruder. This is then used to provide reinforcement for plastic parts, including the firm’s own brand of chopped carbon fiber filament, Onyx.

More recently, a Russian company called Anisoprint has commercialized its own version of continuous carbon fiber printing dubbed composite fiber coextrusion (CFC). Unlike CFF, which features one input and one output for its prepreg material, CFC uses two inputs and one output. One input is dedicated to reinforcement fiber and the other is used for feeding thermoplastic. Dry fiber is fed into the system, where it is impregnated with an extremely liquid thermoset resin. During printing, the thermoset is cured and extruded together with traditional thermoplastic filament. The thermoset matrix permeating the reinforcement fiber then bonds with the filament.

How CFC works.

As a result, not only is there less of a chance of introducing air bubbles or voids in the prepreg material, but it also opens up the variety of thermoplastics that CFC can use (so far, PETG, ABS, PC, PLA and PA).

The rate of deposition can also be controlled in CFC to generate interesting structures and properties not achievable with traditional composite manufacturing, such as lattice shapes. In crossing one strand of carbon tow over another, in traditional circumstances, the thickness of that area is doubled. With CFC, it’s possible to reduce the thermoplastic being extruded, while still depositing the carbon fiber, reducing the amount of plastic in that area.

Strength is evenly distributed around the hole, but not in the entire structure in part one, causing it to sheer. In part two, the entire part is reinforced in a crisscross fashion.

This, in turn, increases what is known as the “fiber volume ratio”, the amount of fiber reinforcement there is in relation to the total volume of the composite. A higher fiber volume ratio usually means improved mechanical properties. So, as these carbon fibers are crisscrossed in a 3D-printed lattice structure, the fiber volume ratio increases, as does the strength.

In aerospace, engineers seek fiber volume ratios of up to 60 percent or so. However, with other carbon fiber 3D printing technologies, the ratio is closer to 30 to 40 percent. Without lattice structures, CFC can achieve about 45 percent, but, at points where carbon fibers overlap, this ratio is doubled—that is, even stronger than available with traditional composites.

With minimal thermoplastic deposition in one direction, this part has less material but improved strength.

In woven carbon fiber, multiple layers of unidirectional fibers crisscross to mimic isotropy, which ends up providing omnidirectional strength at the expense of excess material. However, with CFC, it is possible to only add material and strength where necessary. For this reason, Anisoprint highlights the anisotropy of carbon fiber as a benefit, rather than a weakness—hence the name “Anisoprint.”

Since Markforged and Anisoprint have come to market, a third challenger has appeared with its own form of continuous carbon fiber printing. Ahead of Formnext 2019, Desktop Metal introduced a technology called micro automated fiber replacement (μAFP). μAFP relies on two print heads: one deposits thermoplastic filament and then a tool changer swaps to the other, which lays down prepreg tape, similar to the automated fiber placement technology mentioned briefly in part one.

The carbon fiber-thermoplastic tape is first heated to above the melt temperature of the plastic. Then, a roller presses the tape onto the printed part. The combination of heat, pressure and then the cooling of the printed part, allows the tape the part to fuse.

Desktop Metal is releasing the technology with the Fiber HT and Fiber LT 3D printers. The LT is available as with a $3,495 annual subscription and prints PA6-carbon fiber or PA6-fiberglass tape. The HT ($5,495 per year), can not only print with those tapes, but also PEEK or PEKK combined with carbon fiber or fiberglass. The HT also has two printheads, while the LT has just one.

Additionally, the Fiber HT includes the ability to manage the orientation of the fibers using advanced settings in its software, can achieve less than one percent porosity, and can print with a fiber volume ratio of up to 60 percent.

Large Format and Experimental Carbon Fiber 3D Printing

Also at Formnext, Anisoprint unveiled its production scale CFC system, the Anisoprint ProM IS 500. With a build volume of 600 mm x 420 mm x 300 mm, the system has a heated build chamber capable of printing PEEK and PEI, as well as automated calibration and other production-quality features. With four swappable printheads, it will also be able to combine different composite materials, in addition to carbon fiber. The system will also feature software for optimizing the printing of lattice structures. Anisoprint aims to ship its first ProM IS 500 systems at the end of 2020.

While this is the Russian company’s first production-level carbon fiber 3D printer, it may face some stiff competition. There are a number of other firms that are working on their own unique takes on carbon fiber 3D printing. Because they differ distinctly from the types discussed here, we will explore them in the next chapter of our saga.

The post State of the Art: Carbon Fiber 3D Printing, Part Two appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

4D Printing in China: Shape Memory Polymers and Continuous Carbon Fiber

Researchers have been looking further into the benefits of shape memory polymers (SMPs) with the addition of raw materials in the form of continuous carbon fiber (CCF). Authors Xinxin Shen, Baoxian Jia, Hanxing Zhao, Xing Yang, and Zhengxian Liu have studied mechanical properties in composite samples, along with performance—outlining details in the recently published ‘Study on 3D printing process of continuous carbon fiber reinforced shape memory polymer composites.’

SMPs are a ‘hotspot in academic research’ today as scientists embrace a growing fascination with materials that can deform and return to their natural state as required by users. Refining SMPs continues also, especially with materials like carbon fibers for overcoming challenges regarding strength and stiffness. While continuous fibers have been shown to be more effective than short fibers, the authors point out that forming processes are complex, and better ways are needed for creating continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites. Here, they turn to FDM 3D printing as a solution:

“The composite 3D printer was mainly composed of motion platform, printing nozzle, fiber feeding mechanism and control system,” stated the researchers. “Compared with conventional printers, the nozzle of this printer can feed resin and fiber from two channels simultaneously and extrude them from the same nozzle.”

Printing principle of continuous carbon fiber reinforced SMP composites.

“In addition, the fiber feeding mechanism was designed to continuously feed the fiber at a suitable speed by adjusting the rotating speed of the stepping motor to avoid breakage of the fiber during printing.”

Four ply angles of carbon fibers, (a) 0° (b) 90° (c) 0° /90° (d) ±45°.

In using orthogonal experimental design, the authors studied influences such as:

Printing temperature
Printing speed
Scanning pitch
Ply angle

Partial printed specimens with different process parameters.

In examining issues with mechanical properties further, the researchers found that the ply angle of carbon factors was a key factor. As they varied ply angles, changes in tensile strength and modulus of the specimens resulted, showing tension along the fibers at 0 degrees, but at 90 degrees it was perpendicular, opening the potential for problems with adhesion.

The study also showed that mechanical properties were more suitable at about 200℃, with excessive printing speed affecting ‘impregnation’ of fibers and resin. The authors also noted little effect on SMPs due to changes in fiber content.

SEM of fracture cross section of specimens under different temperatures

“The rapid manufacture of shape memory carbon fiber composites has potential use in the field of aerospace,” concluded the researchers.

While researchers, engineers, designers, and users around the world still may have yet to scratch the surface of the potential of 3D printing, many are delving further into the next level with materials that are able to morph to their environments, from soft actuators to 4D printing with wood composites, to exceptional new metamaterials.

Find out more about carbon fiber and SMPs here. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Shape memory performance test with different fiber contents.

[Source / Image: ‘Study on 3D printing process of continuous carbon fiber reinforced shape memory polymer composites’]

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Combining Over-3D Printing of Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites with Stamp Forming Organo-sheet Substrates

Because continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite materials have such high strength, stiffness, and fatigue resistance, in addition to noise suppression and impact energy absorption qualities, a lot of people are naturally interested in them for multiple applications. But, researchers need to look into ways to address related challenges, such as cost-effective processes to manufacture these materials.

U. Morales, A. Esnaola, M. Iragi, L. Aretxabaleta, and J. Aurrekoetxea with Mondragon Unibertsitatea published a paper, titled “Over-3D printing of continuous carbon fibre composites on organo-sheet substrates,” that looks at combining FFF 3D printing of continuous fiber reinforced composites with organo-sheet thermoplastic composites.

The abstract reads, “Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), or 3D printing, of continuous fibre reinforced composites allows getting advanced materials (steered-fibres, dispersed stacking sequence laminates or functionally graded composites), as well as complex geometries (cellular structures or metamaterials). However, FFF presents several drawbacks, especially when large-projected area or high-fibre content composite parts are required. On the other side, stamp forming of organo-sheet thermoplastic composites is a cost-effective technology, but with severe geometric limitations. Combining both technologies, by over-3D printing on the organo-sheet, can be a promising approach to add the best of each of them. The effect of the organo-sheet temperature on the shear strength of the bonding interface is studied. The results show that strong bonding interface can be achieved when the correct substrate temperature is chosen. In fact, it is largely improved if the interface temperature is higher than the melting temperature of the substrate layer.”

Figure 1. Set up of the over-3D printing.

While stamp forming organo-sheet thermoplastic composites is a cost-effective method, it can’t produce complex geometries on its own, meaning that it requires assembling operations and parts to do so. You can combine stamp forming with over-injection molding, but then the final part’s mechanical properties will be limited. FFF 3D printing can achieve complex geometries and support advanced materials, but it isn’t perfect. So combining over-3D printing on the organo-sheet can offer the best of both worlds.

The team’s manufacturing process is three-fold:

The flat organo-sheet is placed on the 3D printer bed and the complex features are over-printed
The over-printed organo-sheet is picked up and fed to the infrared heating station
The final shape is achieved by stamp forming once the optimum processing temperature is reached

“Establishing strong bonded interfaces between organo-sheet substrate and over-3D printed polymers is essential to the success of the proposed approach, and it is the motivation of this research, where the main objective is to establish the effects of the organo-sheet temperature on the shear strength of the bonding interface,” the researchers explained.

Figure 2. Geometry of the over-3D printed single lap test specimen (all dimensions in mm)

A standard polyamide 6 (PA6) was used for the infill material, while the printed composite material was a continuous carbon fiber reinforced polyamide 6 (CF-PA6); both came from Markforged. The company’s desktop Mark Two 3D printer was used to fabricate the over-3D printed specimen, the geometry of which consisted of a 2 x 30 x 90 mm3 organo-sheet substrate and a 4 x 15 x 45 mm3 prismatic over-3D printed part.

“To prevent delamination stress in the overprinted zone and assure a pure shear loading at the bonding interface, 2 mm of height tap has designed and glued to the specimen end. Therefore, it has been assumed that the first failure mode of the single lap specimen will occurred due to shearing at the bonding interface and that the tensile failure load of substrate is 10 time higher,” the researchers explained.

“An over-3D printed part has been manufactured layer by layer according to the printer parameter shown in the Table 3. The printed part is assembled by a stacking a sequence of 32 layers: the first 16 PA6 layers are placed to fill the gap of organo-sheet thickness (2 mm), the next two PA6 layers define an interface of 0.25 mm (flexible bed) and the last 14 CF-PA6 layers are devoted to withstand the test load. Therefore, printed carbon fibres are aligned with the loading direction (0º) and extrusion path of PA6 layers are driven in 0/90º direction.”

The team carried out quasi-static shear tests, studied failure modes by using an optical microscopy to analyze the over-printed fracture zones, and conducted differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) on the samples, which weighed between 5.5 and 6 mg.

After all of the experiments had been completed, the researchers felt that their work fully demonstrated a feasible new process that combined stamp forming of carbon fiber reinforced PA12 organo-sheet and over-3D printing of continuous carbon fiber reinforced PA6.

Figure 4. Interface pictures of three different over-3D printed samples; a) original over-3D printed interface, b) fracture surface of the sample with Ti 157.5 ºC and c) fracture surface of the sample with Ti 177.5 ºC.

“The substrate temperature, the only parameter that can be modified in the printer, is critical to get a strong bonding. Increasing the temperature increases the shear strength, and once the interface temperature exceeds the melting peak temperature of the substrate, the shear strength does not increase anymore. Therefore, it can be concluded that an optimum temperature can be found for balancing mechanical performances and cost-effectiveness of the process,” the researchers wrote. “Anyway, another processing parameter (printing temperature or pressure) or surface treatments (texturing or adding hot-melt) must be explored to improve even more the adhesion between the substrate and the over-3D printed features.”

Discuss this research and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

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Improving Mechanical Properties of 3D Printing with Continuous Carbon Fiber Shape Memory Composites

Researchers Yongsan An and Woon-Ryeol Yu explore improved 3D printing through the study of alternative materials. In the recently published ‘Three-dimensional printing of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced shape memory polymer composites,’ the authors discuss challenges with mechanical properties that plague many industrial users.

In this study, they experiment with continuous carbon fiber reinforced shape memory polymer composites (SMPC), in FDM 3D printing—using both thermoplastics and thermosets.

Mechanical properties of continuous fiber-reinforced polymer composites, short fiber reinforced polymer composites, and polymer matrix fabricated by FDM.

Parameters were tested, and samples were printed, as the researchers learned more about the benefits and limits of smart materials like SMPs—able to change with their environment and then morph back to their normal shape. This type of material borders on the 4D and allows users much greater flexibility in use—across a wide variety of applications. With the addition of carbon composites, the research team hoped to improve fabrication processes.

The team created a customized FDM 3D printer for the study, to fabricate continuous fiber-reinforced SMPC parts. For materials, two different types were chosen for evaluation: PLA and a polyurethane-type of SMP filaments (as the thermoplastic matrices) and an SMP epoxy as the thermoset matrix. The team then added the continuous carbon fibers for reinforcement to the filament.

Schematic diagram of the 3D printing system of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites for (a) thermoplastics and (b) thermosets.

They experimented with differences in temperature and print speed in printing out samples to be tested. Mechanical and shape memory properties were then assessed by the team.

3D printing of CF and PLA composites. (a) only PLA, (b) 1.5 mm-diameter nozzle, and (c) 2 mm- diameter nozzle.

“The storage modulus (G’), loss modulus (G’’), and the viscosity of the PLA were decreased around its melting point. The storage modulus was decreased at a larger rate than the loss modulus, resulting in more liquid-like properties of PLA. Therefore, the PLA could be easily extruded from the nozzle of which temperature was 180℃,” the researchers wrote.

“The PLA filament without CF was smoothly extruded from a nozzle whether its diameter was larger than the fusion area or not. However, for a nozzle with 1.5 mm diameter, the PLA matrix was extruded like wrapping the CF helically. It was due to a fact that the PLA was extruded more than the CF because the CF was not stretched during extrusion. In addition, harsh temperature and different extrusion speed caused CF to fail during 3D printing. On the other hand, for a nozzle with 2 mm diameter, the PLA and CF were extruded straightly because their extrusion speeds were synchronized.”

There were numerous challenges—such as the CF not coated completely with PLA. The researchers created an improved printhead for better optimization in terms of supplying speed of PLA and CF and the structure and fusion time of the materials. They also added calendar rolls and a proper tension device.

“The printed SMPC showed good mechanical properties compared to those of conventionally 3D printed polymer in the fiber direction,” stated the researchers.

Strength and stability in mechanical properties are a constant challenge in 3D printing—but there are constant improvements as researchers are determined to perfect the materials and processes of progressive fabrication techniques from testing carbon lattices, to titanium, to examining issues in biocompatibility.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source / Images: Three-dimensional printing of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced shape memory polymer composites]

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Rapid 2019: Interview with Markforged’s Greg Mark On AI in 3D Printing

Markforged started by bringing an innovative continuous composites technology to 3D printing. Rather than try to be all things to all men, the firm had a strong initial automotive focus before branching out. Then the company surprised everyone by releasing a binder jetting metal 3D printer. Now with successive investment rounds, over 100 metal systems sold and new closed-loop technologies focussing on manufacturers the firm looks set for success. Now the company is putting out entire lines of systems with an X3, X5 and X7 on the market. The company also makes a complete suite of products including a sintering and washing station as well as its Eiger software. However, its up against HP, GE, Desktop Metal and new entrants in a very competitive space. How will Markforged compete? What makes this firm special and how can it win? Also, why should you choose to work with them?

The Markforged systems can be ordered with washing/debinding and sintering stations from the firm.

At Rapid we sat down with the eminently bright Greg Mark, the founder of Markforged to talk about the future of his firm.

What makes Markforged special?

We are a software company, that produces parts. We create fully integrated systems consisting of software and materials. To make a production system, that is a combined system that can produce parts requires a different approach. For us to “end to end” ensure that our customers can make the right part we have to take into account all of the factors that influence the making of a part. The physics, the engineering, the code, your STL they all influence the properties of your final part. In order to account for those influences, we have to be systems people who design systems. Our people is, of course, the most special thing about us. We’ve managed to find a group of very enthusiastic, talented and intelligent people who are passionate about 3D printing. Together they make up Markforged. We are always looking for people who love 3D printing, who are systems people. Systems people that want to develop integrated systems that manufacture. There are a lot of companies making 3D printers, few make manufacturing systems. From the very beginning, software was an integral part of our manufacturing solution and with Blacksmith, the importance of software has only grown.

We also do things that no one else has done before. We were the first to 3D print continuous carbon fiber for example. We let you make high strength polymer parts through a low cost material extrusion process. Not only can you 3D print strong parts on the desktop we are letting you do this while fundamentally lowering the cost structure of these parts.

The X7 is an industrial polymer system for continuous fiber

What is adaptive manufacturing?

Up and until now machines go through the motion of making parts with no idea of what they’re making. Spindles move, toolheads cut but they have no awareness. They have no idea where they are and what they’re doing. Literally, they’re going through the motions. Machines will keep on running even if empty or cutting up air.

Now with Blacksmith we’re uniting your inspection equipment with the machine itself. Now for the first time, a machine can know what it is doing at any moment. What’s more, it can connect to an AI and learn about manufacturing. Our machine learning software is letting the machine rewrite its own code. The machine can now improve itself. This will improve reliability and repeatability for manufacturing. The machine can now learn “How do offsets work?” for example.

What will Blacksmith do for manufacturers?

Blacksmith lets manufacturers create dependable parts the first time, every time. Now we’re closing the loop by integrating part scanning, printer hardware, and software. This means that you’ll know that you have the right material, in the right places, and the right shape at the right moment. This improves part outcomes and locks in repeatability when you go into production. Blacksmith compares a design to a 3D scanned part and then adapts the process to create in spec parts.

With Blacksmith we’ve made an autopilot for manufacturing. Rather than waste material and time we cut waste and accelerate time to market. This is not just a 3D printing solution we aim to connect your entire factory to Blacksmith.

So it’s a learning algorithm?

It is a learning algorithm that encompasses all of the relevant data that you need to make an in-spec part. The same way that we train application engineer, we train the AI. For many of our customers’ lack of qualified 3D Printing staff reduces their adoption speed. They have Mary and she understands 3D printing but she will be the only one in the organization. With Blacksmith part of the knowledge that used to only be in Mary’s head will now be in the cloud, accessible to your machines.

The steep learning curve that people have had to go through to really use 3D printing for manufacturing is now reduced. The machine, the factory is on autopilot. Through now being able to predict part outcomes and act accordingly Blacksmith lets companies adopt 3D printing at an accelerated rate. Staffing is now less of a bottleneck and the company can get to production quicker.

The Onyx two is a desktop system that can make continuous carbon fiber parts.

In binder jetting metals, the sintering step has always been problematic. How are you trying to solve this?

We’re letting the machine change its own code to make their own part. Blacksmith can now predict parts and defects. We don’t use a linear scale factor. Blacksmith intelligently alters the part to get the outcome that you need. In this way, we can have a system that will continuously learn and improve to get the optimal output for manufacturing.

Istanbul: Thesis Student Explores Continuous Fiber Composites in FDM 3D Printing

Although polymers are still the most popular materials used in 3D printing today, many users find themselves limited due to issues with inferior strength and rigidity. Creating composites is a good way to solve these problems, allowing manufacturers to enjoy the benefits of existing plastics while reinforcing them for better performance. In ‘Modelling and path planning for additive manufacturing of continuous fiber composites,’ Suleman Asif, a thesis student at Sabanci University (Instanbul), examines how the addition of continuous fibers can improve fabrication processes with thermoplastic polymers, and add greater strength in mechanical properties.

FDM 3D printing is mainly explored here. Issues with FDM 3D printing and these materials, however, tend to be centered around a lack of strength and inferior surface finish, build times that take too long, and inconvenient post-processing. In previous studies, researchers have used short fibers to strengthen thermoplastics, along with carbon nanotubes and fiber composites. Iron and copper have been added to ABS, and the addition of graphene fibers have been noted to add conductivity. In most cases, tensile strength increased but there were issues with interfacial bonding and porosity.

The use of short fibers and nanofibers has been explored, but Asif explains that such additions are better for applications like aerospace or automotive. With the use of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRPT) composites, though, both ‘ingredients’ are extruded at the same time from one nozzle and show significant improvement and strengthening.

Schematic diagram of 3D printing process with continuous fiber composite

In a different study, researchers loaded both thermoplastic polymer and continuous fibers into the nozzles for FDM printing, with PLA and continuous fibers (some samples consisted of carbon fibers, and some with jute) added separately to another nozzle. While carbon did offer improvements in strength, the jute was not helpful due to ‘degradation of fiber matrix interactions.’ Other tests showed that PLA reinforced with modified carbon showed higher tensile and flexural strength values, demonstrating how powerful ‘preprocessing’ can be.

“Furthermore, a path control method was developed to print complex geometries including hollow-out aerofoil, a unidirectional flat part, and a circular part,” states Asif.

Previous methods also used ABS and carbon fibers, with two different nozzles and the carbon fibers contained in between the upper and bottom layers of the plastic.

“The process worked in such a way that after printing of lower layers of ABS, carbon fibers [were] thermally bonded using a heating pin before the upper layers of ABS were printed. In addition, some samples were also thermally bonded using a microwave to understand the difference between both methods,” said Asif.

In comparison to pure ABS, the results demonstrated significant strengthening in mechanical properties.

“In addition, it was observed that there was not much difference between the results obtained from test specimen thermally bonded by heating pin and microwave oven. So, it was concluded that microwave could be successfully used for thermal bonding between matrix and other fiber layers.”

Researchers also attempted to reinforce PLA with aramid fibers, showing ‘notable enhancement.’ Another test evaluated a raw material of commingled yarn, containing polypropylene (PP):

“A cutting device was also incorporated in the system, and a novel deposition strategy was developed. The results showed a remarkable increase in flexural modulus as compared to pure PP. However, the void presence in the samples was a major issue in the proposed technique.”

Overall, in reviewing the multitude of studies performed, Asif saw potential for improving mechanical strength, but realizes a need for control of the fiber position within the nozzle to reduce adhesion issues.

“The system also needs to be designed in such a way that the fiber lies directly in the center of the nozzle to ensure that the thermoplastic polymer is properly diffused into the fiber from all sides using a coaxial printing process in which more than one materials are extruded simultaneously through a nozzle along a common axis,” says Asif.

The researcher also began examining various path planning processes for acquiring point locations that guide the extruder in depositing materials for filling layers. Asif discovered that most suggested path planning was limiting as it only worked for specific complex structures—some of which would not be appropriate for fabrication of CFRTP composites. Asif suggests that as the algorithms stand currently, there would be problems due to:

Under-deposition (typically called underextrusion in FDM)
Over-deposition
Movement of the extruder to next layer after filling one layer

Coaxial CFRPT printing and composite structure with unit cell

“Hence, there is need of a continuous path planning method that can generate a deposition path without any under-deposition and over-deposition, and with better moving strategy from one layer to the next one,” concludes Asif.

“As a future work, a screw-based mechanism can be designed and developed for 3D printing of CFRTP composites. It would allow the continuous input of thermoplastic pallets and, therefore, parts with large dimensions can be printed. In addition, a topology optimization based algorithm can be developed to control the number of layers containing fibers to produce optimized lightweight parts depending upon specific load applications.”

3D printing offers an infinite amount of opportunity for designers and engineers around the world, immersed in creation—whether that is industrial, artistic, or completely scientific. There is an immense amount of energy centered around this technology that just continues to grow in popularity, and especially as users continue to refine the processes and materials. Composites are often used to strengthen existing methods and materials, whether in making structural parts for aerospace , regulating electrical composites, or studying conductivity and different techniques for fabrication. Find out more about the use of continuous fiber composites here.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Effect of nozzle diameter on the elastic modulus of continuous fiber composites

Implementation of the developed algorithm on a commercial printer (a) Complex concave geometry (b) Fidget spinner

[Source / Images: ‘Modelling and path planning for additive manufacturing of continuous fiber composites’]

AREVO Partners With Franco Bicycles to Make 3D Printed Carbon Fiber Frames

AREVO is a Khosla backed, well funded, startup that uses a six-axis robot arm to extrude composites for manufacturing. The company has since inception spoken of breakthrough materials and applications such as carbon nanotube reinforced composites with a specific focus on printing bike frames. Now the firm has partnered with Franco Bicycles to make frames for their Emery brand. The Emery One eBike will have a unibody frame 3D printed out of continuous carbon fiber. Continuous carbon has higher strength than the more easily available short carbon fiber and indeed few firms such as Markforged, the US Army, Impossible Objects, moi, and Continuous Carbon are experimenting with this interesting technology. CFRP polymer parts have a high strength to weight ratio and of all the Continuous Fiber Reinforced Polymer materials Carbon Fiber is king. Used in anything from sunglasses to F1 and now passenger cars carbon fiber is a cool and exciting material. The material is already extensively used in bike frames extensively but with lots of manual labor required optimizing carbon fiber processing could make it more commonplace. In addition to cars and bicycles, fiber reinforced parts have an important role in aerospace and other high tech manufacturing and the material is ever expanding.

This is exactly what AREVO wants to do. The company offers a generative design platform and says it can do, “virtually void-free construction…optimized for anisotropic composite materials.” The firm says that the time to part from the idea to a final bike frame is significantly faster than with traditional hand layup composites and says that its frame consists of only one part not “many parts glued together.” Traditionally manufactured the frame would have consisted of 27 parts. This part reduction would also reduce stock and assembly costs significantly. They also tout their lower overal product development costs.

Hector Rodriguez, Co-Founder of Emery Bikes:

“We chose AREVO technology because its iterative and flexible design represents the new age in composites manufacturing, and we wanted to be the first bike company to help lead this revolution, AREVO’s continuous carbon fiber technology has been instrumental in achieving the ride quality and high-performance requirements we set out to accomplish with the Emery One.”

Hemant Bheda, AREVO Co-Founder and Chairman:

“This is the first Composite Additive-Manufactured bike frame and it represents an important milestone for the AM industry as AREVO is delivering on the promise of on-demand manufacturing of composite parts in volume now,.” “With the introduction of the Emery One, the transformation of the global composite bike industry has begun.”

The say that the main advantages of their technology as:

True serial, volume production of AM-made composite parts that are made with thermoplastic materials, which are tougher, durable and recyclable, as compared to brittle and non-recyclable thermoset materials

A replacement of a laborious manual process with a fully-automated, “lights out” production model

Delivering on the promise of localized manufacturing or “on-shoring,” which creates greater independence for bike brands

A much greater “freedom of design” for bike manufacturers that creates the possibility of fully-customized bikes made on an “on demand” basis, an approach AREVO calls “DESIGN. PRINT. GO.”

Brittle composites using thermosets are a big issue in bike frames. A several thousand dollar bike frame which is in and of itself very strong could shatter if it hit a curb. If the firm could equal the strength of traditional thermosets for thermoplastics the environmental benefits would be huge. Not only would parts last longer but their recycling would be more possible also. Current carbon fiber materials are impossible to recycle and pose a huge environmental burden. The materials used are also quite dangerous for man and planet and it would be good to see in what way AREVO could improve on this. True lights out production would radically cut costs as may local manufacturing while increased geometric freedom and on-demand production may radically alter the economics of bike making. This kind of technology could be a big threat for the mainly Taiwan based manufacturers of Carbon fiber bike frames. Unless of course, they develop a similar technology of their own. Carbon fiber bike frame manufacturing moved to Taiwan because under stricter environment and employee safety regulations in Europe the industry was pushed out. With good reason as well, the fibers, resins, processing chemicals could encompass many negative health effects for workers and their surroundings. To me, AREVO’s technology is possibly a hugely exciting one if they can prove that they can produce sustainable composites that can in some way be recycled. Industries such as automotive and aerospace are thinking of the end of life consequences of their parts while also trying to lose weight. If AREVO can demonstrate high strength to weight, less part brittleness, low environmental impact during production, long life and post use recycling then they could have a blockbuster technology on their hands.

You can see the Emery at booth S9 at the Sea Otter Classic bicycling event in Monterey, California, April 11 – 14.