The flexural and compressive properties of sandwich composites with different 3D-printed core structures

Abstract

In this study, different core structures are produced with polylactic acid (PLA) and carbon fiber reinforced PLA (CFR-PLA) filaments using a 3D printer with fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. An alternative new core structure is proposed to the honeycomb and square core structures commonly used in the literature. Then, sandwich composites are produced by bonding carbon fiber-epoxy plates to the lower and upper surfaces of these core structures. The effect of carbon fiber reinforcement and core types on the mechanical properties of sandwich composites was investigated. The core structures produced with carbon fiber-reinforced PLA showed lower compressive strength but higher compressive modulus than those produced with pure PLA. Among the core structures, the designed structure showed the highest compressive strength with a value of 9.867 MPa, which is 32.18% and 54.36% higher than the honeycomb and square structure. While the flexural strength and flexural stiffness of the sandwich composites increased with carbon fiber reinforcement, the designed sandwich composite showed approximately 1.40 and 3.15 times the flexural strength of the honeycomb and square sandwich composites, respectively.

Keywords

• 3D-Printed core
• Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
• Sandwich composite
• Carbon fiber-reinforced polylactic acid
• Compressive properties
• Flexural properties

Supporting Institution

TUBITAK

Project Number

1139B411901075

Thanks

The authors would like to thank for the financial support of this research to the TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) 2209-B University Students Research Projects Support Program (project no: 1139B411901075).

Farklı 3B-baskılı çekirdek yapılara sahip sandviç kompozitlerin eğilme ve basma özellikleri

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, eriyik biriktirme yöntemi (FDM) kullanılarak polilaktik asit (PLA) ve karbon fiber takviyeli PLA (CFR-PLA) filamentlerle farklı çekirdek yapıları üretilmiştir. Literatürde yaygın olarak kullanılan bal peteği ve kare çekirdek yapılarına alternatif yeni bir çekirdek yapısı önerilmiştir. Ardından, karbon fiber-epoksi plakalar bu çekirdek yapılarının alt ve üst yüzeylerine yapıştırılarak sandviç kompozitler üretilmiştir. Karbon fiber takviyesinin ve farklı çekirdek yapılarının sandviç kompozitlerin mekanik özellikleri üzerindeki etkisi araştırılmıştır. Karbon fiber-takviyeli PLA ile üretilen çekirdek yapıların saf PLA ile üretilenlere göre daha düşük basma dayanımına ancak daha yüksek basma modülüne sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Çekirdek yapılar arasında yeni tasarlanan çekirdek yapı, 9.867 MPa değeri ile en yüksek basma dayanımı göstermiş ve bu değer, bal peteği ve kare yapılardan sırasıyla %32.18 ve %54.36 daha yüksektir. Sandviç kompozitlerin eğilme mukavemeti ve eğilme rijitliği karbon fiber takviyesi ile artarken tasarlanan sandviç kompozit, bal peteği ve kare sandviç kompozitlerin sırasıyla yaklaşık 1,40 ve 3,15 katı eğilme dayanımı göstermiştir.

Keywords

• 3B-baskılı çekirdek
• Eriyik biriktirme modelleme (FDM)
• Sandviç kompozit
• Karbon fiber-takviyeli polilaktik asit
• Basma özellikleri
• Eğilme özellikleri

Project Number

1139B411901075

References

1. Ukaegbu UF, Tartibu LK, Okwu MO, Olayode IO (2021) Development of a light-weight unmanned aerial vehicle for precision agriculture. Sensors 21:4417.
2. Vogeltanz T (2016) A survey of free software for the design, analysis, modelling, and simulation of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Arch Comput Methods Eng 23:449–514.
3. Goh GD, Agarwala S, Goh GL, Dikshit V, Sing SL, Yeong WY (2017) Additive manufacturing in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): Challenges and potential. Aerosp Sci Technol 63:140–151.
4. Li J (2022) Artificial intelligence technology and China’s defense system. J. Indo-Pacific Aff. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2980879/artificialintelligence-technology-and-chinas-defense-system/#sdendnote1sym. Accessed 15 June 2023.
5. Bi ZM, Yung KL, Ip AWH, Tang YK, Zhang CWJ, Xu L Da (2022) The state of the art of information integration in space applications. IEEE Access 10: 110110-110135.
6. Cawthorne D (2023) The ethics of drone design: how value-sensitive design can create better technologies. Taylor & Francis.
7. Shavarani SM, Nejad MG, Rismanchian F, Izbirak G (2018) Application of hierarchical facility location problem for optimization of a drone delivery system: a case study of Amazon prime air in the city of San Francisco. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 95:3141–3153.
8. Saari M, Cox B, Richer E, Krueger PS, Cohen AL (2015) Fiber encapsulation additive manufacturing: An enabling technology for 3D printing of electromechanical devices and robotic components. 3D Print Addit Manuf 2:32–39.

9. Moon SK, Tan YE, Hwang J, Yoon Y-J (2014) Application of 3D printing technology for designing light-weight unmanned aerial vehicle wing structures. Int J Precis Eng Manuf Technol 1:223–228.
10. Klippstein H, Diaz De Cerio Sanchez A, Hassanin H, Zweiri Y, Seneviratne L (2018) Fused deposition modeling for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): a review. Adv Eng Mater 20:1700552.
11. Emimi M, Khaleel M, Alkrash A (2023) The current opportunities and challenges in drone technology. Int J Electr Eng Sustain 1:74–89.
12. Borchardt JK (2004) Unmanned aerial vehicles spur composites use. Reinf Plast 48:28–31
13. Dikshit V, Yap YL, Goh GD, Yang H, Lim JC, Qi X, Yeong WY, Wei J (2016) Investigation of out of plane compressive strength of 3D printed sandwich composites. In: IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. IOP Publishing, p 12017.
14. Fu X, Lin Y, Yue X-J, XunMa, Hur B, Yue X-Z (2022) A review of additive manufacturing (3D printing) in aerospace: Technology, materials, applications, and challenges. In: Mob. Wirel. Middleware, Oper. Syst. Appl. 10th Int. Conf. Mob. Wirel. Middleware, Oper. Syst. Appl. (MOBILWARE 2021). Springer, pp 73–98.
15. Goh GD, Toh W, Yap YL, Ng TY, Yeong WY (2021) Additively manufactured continuous carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic for topology optimized unmanned aerial vehicle structures. Compos Part B Eng 216:108840.
16. Praveena BA, Lokesh N, Buradi A, Santhosh N, Praveena BL, Vignesh R (2022) A comprehensive review of emerging additive manufacturing (3D printing technology): Methods, materials, applications, challenges, trends and future potential. Mater Today Proc 52:1309–1313.
17. Lee JM, Yeong WY (2016) Design and printing strategies in 3D bioprinting of cell‐hydrogels: A review. Adv Healthc Mater 5:2856–2865.
18. Tom T, Sreenilayam SP, Brabazon D, Jose JP, Joseph B, Madanan K, Thomas S (2022) Additive manufacturing in the biomedical field-recent research developments. Results Eng 100661.
19. Srivastava M, Rathee S, Patel V, Kumar A, Koppad PG (2022) A review of various materials for additive manufacturing: Recent trends and processing issues. J Mater Res Technol 21:2612–2641.
20. Cramer CL, Ionescu E, Graczyk-Zajac M, Nelson AT, Katoh Y, Haslam JJ, Wondraczek L, Aguirre TG, LeBlanc S, Wang H (2022) Additive manufacturing of ceramic materials for energy applications: Road map and opportunities. J Eur Ceram Soc 42:3049–3088.
21. Ren L, Wang Z, Ren L, Han Z, Liu Q, Song Z (2022) Graded biological materials and additive manufacturing technologies for producing bioinspired graded materials: An overview. Compos Part B Eng 242:110086.
22. Chaudhary RP, Parameswaran C, Idrees M, Rasaki AS, Liu C, Chen Z, Colombo P (2022) Additive manufacturing of polymer-derived ceramics: Materials, technologies, properties and potential applications. Prog Mater Sci 128:100969.
23. Madhavadas V, Srivastava D, Chadha U, Raj SA, Sultan MTH, Shahar FS, Shah AUM (2022) A review on metal additive manufacturing for intricately shaped aerospace components. CIRP J Manuf Sci Technol 39:18–36.
24. Ramazani H, Kami A (2022) Metal FDM, a new extrusion-based additive manufacturing technology for manufacturing of metallic parts: a review. Prog Addit Manuf 7:609–626.
25. Megdich A, Habibi M, Laperriere L (2023) A review on 4D printing: Material structures, stimuli and additive manufacturing techniques. Mater Lett 133977.
26. Najmon JC, Raeisi S, Tovar A (2019) Review of additive manufacturing technologies and applications in the aerospace industry. Addit Manuf Aerosp Ind 7–31.
27. Easter S, Turman J, Sheffler D, Balazs M, Rotner J (2013) Using advanced manufacturing to produce unmanned aerial vehicles: a feasibility study. In: Ground/air Multisens. interoperability, Integr. Netw. persistent ISR IV. SPIE, pp 20–35.
28. Šančić T, Brčić M, Kotarski D, Łukaszewicz A (2023) Experimental characterization of composite-printed materials for the production of multirotor UAV airframe parts. Materials (Basel) 16:5060.
29. Azarov A V, Antonov FK, Golubev M V, Khaziev AR, Ushanov SA (2019) Composite 3D printing for the small size unmanned aerial vehicle structure. Compos Part B Eng 169:157–163.
30. Grodzki W, Łukaszewicz A (2015) Design and manufacture of umanned aerial vehicles (uav) wing structure using composite materials: Planung und bau einer flügelstruktur für unbemannte luftfahrzeuge (uav) unter verwendung von kompositwerkstoffen. Materwiss Werksttech 46:269–278.
31. Dudek P (2013) FDM 3D printing technology in manufacturing composite elements. Arch Metall Mater 58:1415–1418.
32. Stern M, Cohen E (2013) VAST AUAV (variable airspeed telescoping additive unmanned air vehicle). In Technical Paper - Society of Manufacturing Engineers, TP13PUB47.
33. Sugiyama K, Matsuzaki R, Ueda M, Todoroki A, Hirano Y (2018) 3D printing of composite sandwich structures using continuous carbon fiber and fiber tension. Compos Part A Appl Sci Manuf 113:114–121.
34. Goh GD, Yap YL, Agarwala S, Yeong WY (2019) Recent progress in additive manufacturing of fiber reinforced polymer composite. Adv Mater Technol 4:1800271.
35. Jayanth N, Senthil P, Prakash C (2018) Effect of chemical treatment on tensile strength and surface roughness of 3D-printed ABS using the FDM process. Virtual Phys Prototyp 13:155–163.
36. Szykiedans K, Credo W (2016) Mechanical properties of FDM and SLA low-cost 3-D prints. Procedia Eng 136:257–262.
37. Ning F, Cong W, Qiu J, Wei J, Wang S (2015) Additive manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites using fused deposition modeling. Compos Part B Eng 80:369–378.
38. Zhong W, Li F, Zhang Z, Song L, Li Z (2001) Short fiber reinforced composites for fused deposition modeling. Mater Sci Eng A 301:125–130.
39. Namiki M, Ueda M, Todoroki A, Hirano Y, Matsuzaki R (2014) 3D printing of continuous fiber reinforced plastic. SAMPE Tech Seattle 2014 Conf, Seattle, United States, June 2-5.
40. Shofner ML, Lozano K, Rodríguez‐Macías FJ, Barrera E V (2003) Nanofiber‐reinforced polymers prepared by fused deposition modeling. J Appl Polym Sci 89:3081–3090.
41. Khan ZI, Mohamad Z, Rahmat AR, Habib U (2021) Synthesis and characterization of composite materials with enhanced thermo-mechanical properties for unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) and aerospace technologies. Pertanika J. Sci. Technol 29:2003-2015.
42. Ning F, Cong W, Hu Y, Wang H (2017) Additive manufacturing of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composites using fused deposition modeling: Effects of process parameters on tensile properties. J Compos Mater 51:451–462.
43. Zhang W, Cotton C, Sun J, Heider D, Gu B, Sun B, Chou T-W (2018) Interfacial bonding strength of short carbon fiber/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene composites fabricated by fused deposition modeling. Compos Part B Eng 137:51–59.
44. Ferreira RTL, Amatte IC, Dutra TA, Bürger D (2017) Experimental characterization and micrography of 3D printed PLA and PLA reinforced with short carbon fibers. Compos Part B Eng 124:88–100.
45. Zhang H, Zhang L, Zhang H, Wu J, An X, Yang D (2021) Fibre bridging and nozzle clogging in 3D printing of discontinuous carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composites: Coupled CFD-DEM modelling. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 117:3549–3562.
46. Van de Werken N, Tekinalp H, Khanbolouki P, Ozcan S, Williams A, Tehrani M (2020) Additively manufactured carbon fiber-reinforced composites: State of the art and perspective. Addit Manuf 31:100962.
47. Quan Z, Larimore Z, Wu A, Yu J, Qin X, Mirotznik M, Suhr J, Byun J-H, Oh Y, Chou T-W (2016) Microstructural design and additive manufacturing and characterization of 3D orthogonal short carbon fiber/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene preform and composite. Compos Sci Technol 126:139–148.
48. Lupone F, Padovano E, Venezia C, Badini C (2022) Experimental characterization and modeling of 3D printed continuous carbon fibers composites with different fiber orientation produced by FFF process. Polymers 14:426.
49. Justo J, Távara L, García-Guzmán L, París F (2018) Characterization of 3D printed long fibre reinforced composites. Compos Struct 185:537–548.
50. Iragi M, Pascual-González C, Esnaola A, Lopes CS, Aretxabaleta L (2019) Ply and interlaminar behaviours of 3D printed continuous carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic laminates; effects of processing conditions and microstructure. Addit Manuf 30:100884.
51. Chacón JM, Caminero MA, Núñez PJ, García-Plaza E, García-Moreno I, Reverte JM (2019) Additive manufacturing of continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites using fused deposition modelling: Effect of process parameters on mechanical properties. Compos Sci Technol 181:107688.
52. Borowski A, Vogel C, Behnisch T, Geske V, Gude M, Modler N (2021) Additive manufacturing-based in situ consolidation of continuous carbon fibre-reinforced polycarbonate. Materials 14:2450.
53. Xiao L, Xu X, Feng G, Li S, Song W, Jiang Z (2022) Compressive performance and energy absorption of additively manufactured metallic hybrid lattice structures. Int J Mech Sci 219:107093.
54. Sarvestani HY, Akbarzadeh AH, Niknam H, Hermenean K (2018) 3D printed architected polymeric sandwich panels: Energy absorption and structural performance. Compos Struct 200:886–909.
55. Al-Ketan O, Lee D-W, Al-Rub RKA (2021) Mechanical properties of additively-manufactured sheet-based gyroidal stochastic cellular materials. Addit Manuf 48:102418.
56. Herrmann C, Dewulf W, Hauschild M, Kaluza A, Kara S, Skerlos S (2018) Life cycle engineering of lightweight structures. CIRP Ann 67:651–672.
57. Galos J, Das R, Sutcliffe MP, Mouritz AP (2022) Review of balsa core sandwich composite structures. Mater Des 221:111013.
58. Cao D, Bouzolin D, Lu H, Griffith DT (2023) Bending and shear improvements in 3D-printed core sandwich composites through modification of resin uptake in the skin/core interphase region. Compos Part B Eng 264:110912.
59. Zaharia SM, Pop MA, Chicos L-A, Buican GR, Lancea C, Pascariu IS, Stamate V-M (2022) Compression and bending properties of short carbon fiber reinforced polymers sandwich structures produced via fused filament fabrication process. Polymers 14:2923.
60. Sarvestani HY, Akbarzadeh AH, Mirbolghasemi A, Hermenean K (2018) 3D printed meta-sandwich structures: Failure mechanism, energy absorption and multi-hit capability. Mater Des 160:179–193.
61. Ingrole A, Hao A, Liang R (2017) Design and modeling of auxetic and hybrid honeycomb structures for in-plane property enhancement. Mater Des 117:72–83.
62. Gautam R, Idapalapati S, Feih S (2018) Printing and characterisation of Kagome lattice structures by fused deposition modelling. Mater Des 137:266–275.
63. Schaedler TA, Carter WB (2016) Architected cellular materials. Annu Rev Mater Res 46:187–210.
64. Lu C, Qi M, Islam S, Chen P, Gao S, Xu Y, Yang X (2018) Mechanical performance of 3D-printing plastic honeycomb sandwich structure. Int J Precis Eng Manuf Technol 5:47–54.
65. Tao Y, Li W, Wei K, Duan S, Wen W, Chen L, Pei Y, Fang D (2019) Mechanical properties and energy absorption of 3D printed square hierarchical honeycombs under in-plane axial compression. Compos Part B Eng 176:107219.
66. C365-03: Standard Test Method for Flatwise Compressive Properties of Sandwich Cores (2003). ASTM International, West Conshohocken.
67. Abeykoon C, Sri-Amphorn P, Fernando A (2020) Optimization of fused deposition modeling parameters for improved PLA and ABS 3D printed structures. Int J Light Mater Manuf 3:284–297.
68. Shanmugam V, Rajendran DJJ, Babu K, Rajendran S, Veerasimman A, Marimuthu U, Singh S, Das O, Neisiany RE, Hedenqvist MS (2021) The mechanical testing and performance analysis of polymer-fibre composites prepared through the additive manufacturing. Polym Test 93:106925.
69. Sood AK, Ohdar RK, Mahapatra SS (2012) Experimental investigation and empirical modelling of FDM process for compressive strength improvement. J Adv Res 3:81–90.
70. Mieszala M, Hasegawa M, Guillonneau G, Bauer J, Raghavan R, Frantz C, Kraft O, Mischler S, Michler J, Philippe L (2017) Micromechanics of amorphous metal/polymer hybrid structures with 3D cellular architectures: size effects, buckling behavior, and energy absorption capability. Small 13:1602514.
71. Babamiri BB, Askari H, Hazeli K (2020) Deformation mechanisms and post-yielding behavior of additively manufactured lattice structures. Mater Des 188:108443.
72. Mei H, Yin X, Zhang J, Zhao W (2019) Compressive properties of 3D printed polylactic acid matrix composites reinforced by short fibers and SiC nanowires. Adv Eng Mater 21:1800539.
73. Saleh M, Anwar S, Al-Ahmari AM, Alfaify A (2022) Compression performance and failure analysis of 3D-printed carbon fiber/PLA composite TPMS lattice structures. Polymers (Basel) 14:4595.
74. Van Der Klift F, Koga Y, Todoroki A, Ueda M, Hirano Y, Matsuzaki R (2016) 3D printing of continuous carbon fibre reinforced thermo-plastic (CFRTP) tensile test specimens. Open J Compos Mater 6:18-27.
75. Mohan N, Senthil P, Vinodh S, Jayanth N (2017) A review on composite materials and process parameters optimisation for the fused deposition modelling process. Virtual Phys Prototyp 12:47–59.
76. Liao G, Li Z, Cheng Y, Xu D, Zhu D, Jiang S, Guo J, Chen X, Xu G, Zhu Y (2018) Properties of oriented carbon fiber/polyamide 12 composite parts fabricated by fused deposition modeling. Mater Des 139:283–292.
77. Gavali VC, Kubade PR, Kulkarni HB (2020) Property enhancement of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites prepared by fused deposition modeling. Mater Today Proc 23:221–229.
78. Sang L, Han S, Li Z, Yang X, Hou W (2019) Development of short basalt fiber reinforced polylactide composites and their feasible evaluation for 3D printing applications. Compos Part B Eng 164:629–639.