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Quantifying the influence of reinforcement architecture on the planar mechanical properties of 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites

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Abstract

3D-printed thermoplastic parts with continuous fiber reinforcement are known to offer mechanical performance that is highly dependent on design variables and printing parameters. In this work, the role of the reinforcement distribution on the mechanical response of glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastics printed using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique is evaluated. Laminates with alternating and continuous reinforcement architecture as well as different fiber orientations such as isotropic (0°, 90°, and 45°) and concentric configurations are characterized from monotonic tensile and flexural loads. The resulting superior macromechanical performance in terms of higher stiffness and strength achieved in samples reinforced with alternating fiber plies is correlated with the micromechanical fractography characteristics and interlaminar shear capacity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Concepción, 4030000, Concepción, Chile

    Andrés De la Fuente, Rodolfo Hermosilla, Benjamín Escudero, Joaquín Sepúlveda & Carlos Medina

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Bío-Bío, 4051381, Concepción, Chile

    Rodrigo Castillo & Angelo Oñate

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería de Materiales, Universidad de Concepción, Edmundo Larenas 270, Apartado 160-C, 4070409, Concepción, Chile

    Angelo Oñate & Manuel F. Meléndrez

  4. Engineering Department, Public University of Navarre (UPNA), Campus of Arrosadia, 31006, Pamplona, Spain

    Gustavo Vargas-Silva

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, Francisco Salazar 01145, 4780000, Temuco, Chile

    Víctor Tuninetti

Authors
  1. Andrés De la Fuente
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  2. Rodrigo Castillo
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  8. Manuel F. Meléndrez
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  9. Víctor Tuninetti
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  10. Carlos Medina
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Contributions

Andrés De la Fuente: investigation, methodology, and data curation. Rodrigo Castillo: writing—original draft and review and editing; Angelo Oñate: conceptualization, data curation, and writing—review and editing. Rodolfo Hermosilla: methodology. Benjamín Escudero: resources. Joaquín Sepulveda: resources. Gustavo Vargas-Silva: writing—review and editing. Víctor Tuninetti: formal analysis, visualization, and writing—review and editing. Manuel F. Meléndrez: conceptualization and resources. Carlos Medina: conceptualization, resources, methodology, writing—review and editing, and supervision.

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De la Fuente, A., Castillo, R., Oñate, A. et al. Quantifying the influence of reinforcement architecture on the planar mechanical properties of 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 127, 1575–1583 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11569-w

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