3D Printing of Composites

Description

This book presents a unique approach to developing lightweight feedstock material for 3D printing of structural components for weight-sensitive structural applications across aerospace, automobile, and marine regimes. In addition to making wide feedstock materials choices available for AM industry, the content also presents a novel approach of 3D printing of lightweight core sandwich composites, all at once. It discusses the process of fused filament fabrication (FFF) as one of the most widely used additive manufacturing (AM) techniques to fabricate lightweight complex functional parts with zero tooling cost, lower energy, and reduced material consumption. The chapters presented in this book deal with a special class of lightweight feedstock material development, synthesis of the developed filaments, optimization of 3D printing parameters on a commercially available FFF-based printer, mechanical and dynamic property investigations of prints, and finally demonstration of 3D-printed industrial-scale lightweight components. This book guides students, researchers, and industrial professionals in lightweight materials design and development. Contents About the Authors List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Composite Materials 1.1.1 Filler/Reinforcement 1.1.2 Matrix 1.2 Syntactic Foams 1.2.1 Processing of Syntactic Foams 1.3 Sandwich Composites 1.4 Additive Manufacturing (AM) 1.5 Issues for 3D Printable Materials References 2 Material Systems and Methods 2.1 Constituents 2.1.1 Glass Microballoons 2.1.2 Matrix 2.2 Blend Preparation and Filament Extrusion 2.3 Physical Properties 2.3.1 Density References 3 Conventional Processing Routes 3.1 Polymers 3.1.1 Compression Molding 3.1.2 Injection Molding 3.1.3 Blow Molding 3.2 Metals References 4 3D Printing Approach 4.1 Blend Characterization 4.1.1 Melt Flow Index (MFI) 4.1.2 Rheological Study of GMB/HDPE Blends 4.2 Filament Development 4.3 3DP of SF Core and Their Sandwiches 4.3.1 3DP of SF Cores 4.3.2 Three-Dimensional (3D) Printing of Sandwich Samples References 5 Mechanical Testing 5.1 Static Testing 5.1.1 Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) 5.1.2 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) 5.1.3 Tensile Response 5.1.4 Flexural Behavior of 3D Printed Core and Sandwich 5.1.5 Compression Response of Printed Cores and Sandwiches 5.2 Dynamic Tests 5.2.1 Buckling and Free Vibration Investigation 5.3 Acoustic Tests 5.3.1 Impedance Tube Method 5.3.2 Numerical Analysis References 6 Additive Manufacturing of Meta-materials References 7 3D Printing of Industrial Components 8 Challenges and Future Trends