Rapid prototyping of continuous carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid composites by 3D printing

The continuous carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid composite was manufactured by the rapid prototyping approach of three-dimensional (3D) printing. In order to analyze the improvement of this new method, the comparison experiments of printed samples with or without preprocessed carbon fiber bundle were performed. The mechanical strength and thermodynamic properties were measured by using the electronic testing machine and Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA). The novel nozzle and path control methods were designed to satisfy the demands of continuous carbon fiber printing. Through the experiment and analysis, the preprocessed carbon fiber with polylactic acid sizing agent could effectively increase the interfacial strength between carbon fiber and resin. The experimental results demonstrated that the tensile strength and flexural strengths of modified carbon fiber reinforced composites were 13.8% and 164% higher than original carbon fiber reinforced samples. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) scan results indicated that the preferable bonding interfaces were achieved of modified carbon fiber reinforced composite.