The impact of defects on the mechanical performance of fiber reinforced composites manufacutured using 3-D printing

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3D printing has become an important technology in Industry 4.0 (smart-virtual-digital factory) and is now more pervasive in aerospace. Currently, Airbus and Boeing use mainly 3D printed parts made from metallic materials, whose material and structural properties are analyzed, tested, and validated. However, there will be an increase and spread to the use of different materials in 3D printing, especially fiber reinforced composites, that can be accommodated using popular machines, like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The combination of 3D printing and fiber reinforced composites can lead to lighter structures through the introduction of load-oriented designs. As a result, there will be a major shift from 3D printed metal parts towards 3D printed composite products over the next decade. The same trend has been observed since the 60s in the move from metallic parts to composite products manufactured using conventional fabrication techniques.The long term objective of this research is to ensure that Canada becomes a world leader in 3D printing of fiber reinforced composites and Canadian companies gain a competitive edge for manufacturing low cost and high performance functional parts. Currently, there are several knowledge gaps that prevent the widespread use of composites in 3D printing in different industries: Defects emerge during composites 3D printing that are inherent in the process and can also stem from design and/or part geometry. The failure mechanism is not well studied and efficient simulation techniques are not available to evaluate the impact of defects. Load-oriented design concept is not well established for 3D printing and currently designers are only allowed to select predetermined fiber paths (mostly straight fibers) within each layer during manufacturing. There is very limited data on mechanical characterization of 3D printed composite parts, especially the impact of defects on the structural performance of the final parts is unknown.This research program is aimed at addressing the above knowledge gaps and has three short term objectives:1. Developing a virtual simulation tool to analyze the impact of defects on mechanical performance of 3D printed composite parts.2. Developing an optimization tool to find optimum fiber paths for improved structural performance of 3D printed composite parts.3. Performing mechanical tests on 3D printed composite specimens and demonstrators, and validating the above simulation and optimization tools.Virtual simulation and optimization tools, especially for 3D printing, deliver significant benefits to key emerging technologies. This creates tremendous opportunities for Canadian manufacturers and industrial product companies. They will be able to design efficient products, increase design productivity, and reduce waste, cost, and time-to-market.