| About this Abstract | 
   
    | Meeting | 2021 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2021) | 
   
    | Symposium | Special Session | 
   
    | Presentation Title | Additive Manufacturing of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite via Reactive Extrusion | 
   
    | Author(s) | Pratik  Koirala, Oliver Liam  Uitz, Carolyn Conner   Seepersad, Mehran  Tehrani | 
   
    | On-Site Speaker (Planned) | Pratik  Koirala | 
   
    | Abstract Scope | This project investigates a novel additive manufacturing (AM) technique, liquid reactive extrusion, for carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. The process utilizes highly exothermic resin/catalyst systems with fast curing cycles, eliminating the need for an external energy source. Chemical cross-linking occurs between the printed layers, resulting in parts with nearly isotropic properties. Carbon fibers are added to the thermosetting resin for mechanical reinforcement. An ANSYS simulation is utilized to optimize the AM processing parameters. Inter- and intra-layer tensile properties of the neat polymer and composites reinforced with both milled and chopped fibers are measured. These properties are correlated to the fiber length/orientation distributions and fiber-matrix adhesion in each sample using a theoretical mechanics model. The degree of curing is also characterized and correlated to thermal images captured during reactive extrusion AM. | 
   
    | Proceedings Inclusion? | Definite: Post-meeting proceedings |