Non-destructive testing of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene matrix polymeric composites produced by additive manufacturing

Abstract

Material extrusion-based additive manufacturing (MEX) is an innovative method that has become widely used in the production of polymeric materials. With this method, final products have started to be produced beyond prototype production. However, due to the nature of MEX, some problems encountered in the production processes cause discontinuities in the parts, which, if not detected, can lead to decreases in the performance of the final products, unsafe conditions and unexpected failures. Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods, which have been practiced in the industry for many years, play an important role in detecting these discontinuities. In order to detect discontinuities in thermoplastic composites produced with MEX and to examine the application examples of these methods, samples containing 30 wt% glass fiber with polypropylene matrix were produced in the study. Discontinuities were artificially created in some of the samples and the performance of non-destructive testing methods to detect these discontinuities was measured. The discontinuities were detected in NDT controls performed with ultrasonic inspection and thermal imaging and showed that similar discontinuities can be detected with these techniques.

Keywords

• Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
• Material extrusion-based additive manufacturing (MEX)
• Polymeric Composites
• Polypropylene

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