Fibre-Reinforced 3D Printing - Embedded fibres dramatically improve the stiffness

This 3D printing technology embeds continuous fibre of carbon, kevlar, or glass during the printing process. The embedded fibres dramatically improve the stiffness and strength, compared with non-reinforced materials. The 3D printer is a fused deposition modeling (FDM) machine with two nozzles. The first nozzle deposits a polyamide (nylon) matrix material filled with chopped carbon fibres and the second deposits a continuous fibre filament.

Used for:

The fibre-reinforced parts are used for functional prototypes, structural machine parts, and fixtures in production processes.

Details:

The two nozzles operate independently, so it is possible to control how much continuous fibre material is used and where it is placed.

Costs:

A machine costs around €12000. The cost of reinforced printed parts is high compared with parts made from non-reinforced commodity materials.

Idea:

Print load-bearing furniture components.

The sample:

You get a carbon fibre filled sample and a nonreinforced. The length of the samples is 70 mm and the width is 15 mm. Try to bend the two samples to compare the properties

All samples come with a laminated information card, which includes contact details for the supplier.