Characterization and modelling of the microstructural and mechanical properties of additively manufactured continuous fiber polymer composites

The additive manufacturing of continuous fiber reinforced polymer composites is a technology showing great potential for the production of end-use functional and structural components. The reasons for its still limited use are primarily related to an insufficient knowledge of the mechanical behavior of these composites, especially when considering the features that distinguish the printed components from conventional composite parts. Among these peculiar features, their bead-based architecture has been experimentally and analytically investigated in this study. Following an analysis of the process-morphology correlation, carbon fiber (CF)/polyamide 12 (PA12) specimens were tested to characterize the in-plane quasi-static material properties. Then, a modelling framework has been proposed for assessing the composite elastic properties and average bead stresses. This framework holds the potential to scale up to a structural level, accommodating various fiber trajectories.