Usage of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid as a Core Material in Forming of Carbon Fiber Fabric Composite

Abstract

The weak bonds between the layers of a part produced by the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) method causes damage at an early stage. To overcome the strength problem, FDM parts are manufactured with engineering thermoplastics or reinforced with carbon/glass fiber. Although these studies provided partial improvement on the mechanical strength of the part, the bond strength between the layers was not significantly improved. In this study, we aimed to reduce the negative effect of the weakness in the interlayer bond strength on the strength of the final part. Therefore, a composite laminate was applied on a polylactic acid (PLA) core produced by the FDM method. Weight measurement, tensile test, three-point bending test and weight drop test were performed on the produced test samples. Tensile and bending test results indicates that the composite layer applied on the core produced by the FDM method has a positive effect on the mechanical strength and bending properties. It is concluded that the study will be a source for future research on moldless composite production.