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Performance of additively manufactured composite mold with uniform fiber orientation

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Abstract

The spring-in phenomenon or reduced angle observed in a molded composite part with angled sides or an L-shape is commonly attributed to material anisotropy in the molded part and mismatched thermal expansion between the conventional metal tool and the molded part. This paper investigates the distortion and spring-in of a compression molded carbon fabric reinforced epoxy composite part with angled sides, using composite tooling that is made by extrusion deposition additive manufacturing (EDAM). The composite tooling was made from carbon fiber reinforced polyetherimide (ULTEM) by EDAM; as a result, material anisotropy existed in both tooling and molded part. In the present study, a uniform vertical orientation was used during the extrusion deposition printing of the mold, in order to promote heat transfer along the press closing direction. The thermomechanical properties were measured for the tooling material from EDAM-printed plaques and for the composite part material from molded plaques; the measured inputs were then used in simulation of mold deformation, residual stresses, and part distortion. The spring-in predicted for the part molded with the EDAM tool was 1.4°, which is close to the experimentally measured spring-in of 1.3°. The spring-in predicted for a similar molding cycle with the steel mold was much higher at 2.6°.

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Acknowledgements

Bags of the ULTEM carbon fiber composite used for 3D printing the tool were donated by SABIC. The 3D printing and machining of the composite mold was carried out at Additive Engineering Solutions, LLC. The press at the Michigan State University Scale-Up Research Facility was used with assistance from Shane Skop, Brian Klotz, and the kind approval of Ray Boeman.

Funding

The research presented herein was funded in part by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Department of Energy, under Award DE- EE0006926 through IACMI (the Institute for Advanced Composites and Manufacturing Innovation).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Department, Michigan State University, 428, S. Shaw Lane, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Swayam Shree & Krishnamurthy Jayaraman

  2. ESI North America, 32605 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 350, Farmington Hills, MI, 48334, USA

    Arnaud Dereims & Ravi Raveendra

Authors
  1. Swayam Shree
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  2. Krishnamurthy Jayaraman
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  3. Arnaud Dereims
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  4. Ravi Raveendra
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the conception of this study. The simulation study was planned and executed by Swayam Shree, K. Jayaraman, and Arnaud Dereims. The experimental molding and detailed tests for thermomechanical properties were carried out by Swayam Shree and K. Jayaraman.

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Correspondence to Krishnamurthy Jayaraman.

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Shree, S., Jayaraman, K., Dereims, A. et al. Performance of additively manufactured composite mold with uniform fiber orientation. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 131, 4297–4305 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13220-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13220-8

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