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Evaluating Extrusion Deposited Additively Manufactured Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polymers as Carbon/Carbon Preforms

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Abstract

Although development of high char-yielding polymers has reduced the manufacturing costs of carbon/carbon composites associated with multiple densification cycles, manufacturing highly customized complex-shaped carbon/carbon composites can still be expensive due to molds/tooling surfaces used by traditional preform production techniques. In this study, we explored whether extrusion deposition additive manufacturing (EDAM) could be used as a mold-less approach to manufacturing complex-shaped carbon/carbon composites. The thermogravimetric analysis and coupon distortion results of several short carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymers used for 3D printing were investigated, including polyphenylene sulfide, polyetherimide, poly sulfone, polyether ether ketone, and polyether sulfone. Although polyetherimide had the highest char yield \(\left(57 wt.\%\right)\), carbon fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide was the best preform for manufacturing complex shapes because of its dimensional stability, with carbonized strains of \(-4.18\times{10}^{-2}\) and \(1.82\times{10}^{-1}\) at 1 \(^\circ C/min\) in the 1- and 3- direction, respectively, after heat treating to \(900\;^\circ C\). The distortion results of more complex shapes showed that EDAM can be a practical alternative over more traditional preform production techniques for manufacturing complex-shaped carbon/carbon composites.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL RQH, Contract No. FA8650-20-2-2405). Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited. PA# AFRL-2023-2585.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, 701 West Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907-2045, United States

    Edwin S. Romero & Rodney W. Trice

  2. Composite Manufacturing and Simulation Center (CMSC), Indiana Manufacturing Institute, 1105 Endeavour Avenue, Suite 100, West Lafayette, IN, 47906-1168, United States

    Eduardo Barocio

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  1. Edwin S. Romero
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Edwin S. Romero – Material Preparation, Validation, Formal Analysis, Data Curation, Writing – Original Draft & Writing – Review & Editing; Eduardo Barocio – Conceptualization, Methodology, Material Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing, Supervision; Rodney W. Trice – Funding Acquisition, Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing, Supervision.

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Correspondence to Edwin S. Romero.

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The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: submission of non-provisional patent application #63,401,841 to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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Romero, E.S., Barocio, E. & Trice, R.W. Evaluating Extrusion Deposited Additively Manufactured Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polymers as Carbon/Carbon Preforms. Appl Compos Mater 31, 399–419 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-023-10176-y

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