Porosity in multi-axis material extrusion of short-fibre composites
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 11 January 2021
Issue publication date: 2 March 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between part porosity and mechanical properties of short-fibre reinforced polylactic acid printed via multi-axis material extrusion (MAMEX) to establish guidelines for optimal process configurations.
Design/methodology/approach
Material properties graphs provide the basis for studying the relationship between porosity and mechanical behaviour. Using the correlations found in this study, the way to improve printing strategies and filament properties can be deducted directly from an analysis of the print path and the final influence on mechanical performance.
Findings
Some commercial brands of short-fibre reinforced filament present inherent porosity that weakens the mechanical behaviour of MAMEX components.
Originality/value
Low-cost MAMEX allows the production of components that do not present anisotropic behaviour and are mechanically optimised through the alignment of the filaments along with internal stresses. This paper also addresses the effects of multi-axis deposition strategies on the resulting porosity and proposes improvements to reduce residual porosity, thus increasing the mechanical performance in the future.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work contained within this study was partly supported through the European Commission as part of the DiCoMI project (Grant agreement ID: 778068).
Citation
Kaill, N., Campbell, R. and Pradel, P. (2021), "Porosity in multi-axis material extrusion of short-fibre composites", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 362-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-02-2020-0035
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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