3D printing strategies and mechanical performance assessment of continuous basalt-fibre/PA12 composites with high fibre volume fraction
The continuous filament fabrication (CFF), based on the fused filament fabrication (FFF), is a technology enabling to produce 3D-printed composite parts with high mechanical performance. Basalt fibres remain rather unused in CFF among fibrous reinforcements, in spite of properties similar to glass f...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-09-01
|
| Series: | Polymer Testing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941825002508 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The continuous filament fabrication (CFF), based on the fused filament fabrication (FFF), is a technology enabling to produce 3D-printed composite parts with high mechanical performance. Basalt fibres remain rather unused in CFF among fibrous reinforcements, in spite of properties similar to glass fibres. In addition, in the context of in-situ resource utilization for out-of-earth manufacturing, basalt fibres stand as an excellent earth-based analogue material of lunar regolith.This study aims at bringing deeper insights on the effect of specific printing strategies, by tuning the slicing parameters and by using a customized printer for CFF, as well as on the thermo-elastic properties of a novel high-performance composite material consisting of continuous basalt fibres embedded into a PA12 matrix, with a fibre volume fraction of 55 %.Thermal and morphological properties of the filament are first characterized. Then, the optimal slicing parameters – layer height (LH) and interfilament distance (ID) – are explored through the prism of process-induced porosity; a pore volume content as low as 2.15 % is reported for LH = 0.2 mm and ID = 1.15 mm, testifying to the high material quality and process handling. Finally, the in-plane mechanical properties of PA12-basalt are measured in the quasi-static regime, including longitudinal (0°) tension and compression, transverse (90°) tension, in-plane shear (±45°) and out-of-plane three-point bending. An extreme anisotropic behaviour is revealed. Competitive mechanical properties in the fibre direction are reported, comparable to similar glass-fibre reinforced composites. Conversely, those in the transverse direction are relatively moderate. The latter are attributed to the localized porosity induced by the juxtaposition of adjacent filaments for the interfilament distance selected. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1873-2348 |