Abstract:

Nowadays, additive manufacturing is being used in various industries such as automotive, aviation and space, medical applications, etc. Although additive manufacturing methods offer more freedom in design and manufacturing, they usually have low production speed and mechanical properties. Continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composites are one of the investigated methods in the literature to increase the mechanical properties of the additively manufactured parts. This study utilized a production line based upon the melt impregnation method to obtain continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic filaments using polyamide and continuous carbon fibers. In the printing process, an infrared heat source was utilized to further increase the mechanical properties by improving the interlaminar bonding. The mechanical properties of the printed parts were measured using three-point bending tests. A significant increase was observed in flexural modulus of elasticity and flexural strength with infrared heaters at low printing speeds. A maximum value of 418.99 MPa flexural strength and 52.15 GPa flexural modulus was achieved.

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