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Polymers
Special Issues
Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites
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Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Physics and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2022) | Viewed by 11520

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mohsen Mirkhalaf

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Gothenburg, 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Interests: computational modelling of polymers and composites; applied machine learning; bio-composites; additive manufacturing
Dr. Mohammad Heidari-Rarani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
Interests: fiber reinforced composites; additive manufacturing; 3D printing, damage and fracture mechanics of polymer composites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The additive manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, of polymers (including thermoplastics and thermosets) has attracted increasing attention during the last three decades due to the following advantages: (I) parts with very complex geometries can be fabricated, (II) the process has very high precision, and (III) the process is cost-effective. These advantages give 3D printing great potential in various industries. To improve the mechanical properties of pure polymeric materials for the manufacturing of functional parts, one method is to build composite materials by adding different reinforcements such as fibers (both short and continuous). Therefore, 3D printing technology has seen continuous development for the production of polymer matrix composite parts.

Contributions related to the latest developments in the 3D printing of polymers and polymer composites and addressing one of the following are welcome to be submitted to this Special Issue:

  • Process–structure-property relationships;
  • Mechanical properties;
  • Numerical modelling. 

Dr. Mohsen Mirkhalaf
Dr. Mohammad Heidari-Rarani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • 3D printing
  • additive manufacturing
  • polymers
  • polymer matrix composites
  • numerical modeling
  • mechanical properties
  • optimization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5841 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Strength of Triply Periodic Minimal Surface Lattices Subjected to Three-Point Bending
by Zo-Han Lin, Jyun-Hong Pan and Hung-Yuan Li
Polymers 2022, 14(14), 2885; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14142885 - 16 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2521
Abstract
Sandwich panel structures (SPSs) with lattice cores can considerably lower material consumption while simultaneously maintaining adequate mechanical properties. Compared with extruded lattice types, triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) lattices have light weight but better controllable mechanical properties. In this study, the different types [...] Read more.
Sandwich panel structures (SPSs) with lattice cores can considerably lower material consumption while simultaneously maintaining adequate mechanical properties. Compared with extruded lattice types, triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) lattices have light weight but better controllable mechanical properties. In this study, the different types of TPMS lattices inside an SPS were analysed comprehensively. Each SPS comprised two face sheets and a core filled with 20×5×1 TPMS lattices. The types of TPMS lattices considered included the Schwarz primitive (SP), Scherk’s surface type 2 (S2), Schoen I-graph-wrapped package (I-WP), and Schoen face-centred cubic rhombic dodecahedron (F-RD). The finite element method was applied to determine the mechanical performance of different TPMS lattices at different relative densities inside the SPS under a three-point bending test, and the results were compared with the values calculated from analytical equations. The results showed a difference of less than 21% between the analytical and numerical results for the deformation. SP had the smallest deformation among the TPMS lattices, and F-RD can withstand the highest allowable load. Different failure modes were proposed to predict potential failure mechanisms. The results indicated that the mechanical performances of the TPMS lattices were mainly influenced by the lattice geometry and relative density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites)
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14 pages, 5383 KiB  
Article
Large-Scale Robot-Based Polymer and Composite Additive Manufacturing: Failure Modes and Thermal Simulation
by Saeed Akbari, Jan Johansson, Emil Johansson, Lenny Tönnäng and Seyed Hosseini
Polymers 2022, 14(9), 1731; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14091731 - 24 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2418
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) of large-scale polymer and composite parts using robotic arms integrated with extruders has received significant attention in recent years. Despite the contributions of great technical progress and material development towards optimizing this manufacturing method, different failure modes observed in the [...] Read more.
Additive manufacturing (AM) of large-scale polymer and composite parts using robotic arms integrated with extruders has received significant attention in recent years. Despite the contributions of great technical progress and material development towards optimizing this manufacturing method, different failure modes observed in the final printed products have hindered its application in producing large engineering structures used in aerospace and automotive industries. We report failure modes in a variety of printed polymer and composite parts, including fuel tanks and car bumpers. Delamination and warpage observed in these parts originate mostly from thermal gradients and residual stresses accumulated during material deposition and cooling. Because printing large structures requires expensive resources, process simulation to recognize the possible failure modes can significantly lower the manufacturing cost. In this regard, accurate prediction of temperature distribution using thermal simulations is the first step. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used for process simulation of large-scale robotic AM. The important steps of the simulation are presented, and the challenges related to the modeling are recognized and discussed in detail. The numerical results showed reasonable agreement with the temperature data measured by an infrared camera. While in small-scale extrusion AM, the cooling time to the glassy state is less than 1 s, in large-scale AM, the cooling time is around two orders of magnitudes longer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites)
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24 pages, 2112 KiB  
Article
Identification of Representative Equivalent Volumes on the Microstructure of 3D-Printed Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics Based on Statistical Characterization
by Thiago Assis Dutra, Rafael Thiago Luiz Ferreira, Hugo Borelli Resende, Luís Miguel Oliveira, Brina Jane Blinzler and Leif E. Asp
Polymers 2022, 14(5), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14050972 - 28 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2328
Abstract
The present work describes a methodology to compute equivalent volumes representing the microstructure of 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, based on a statistical characterization of the fiber distribution. In contrast to recent work, the methodology herein presented determines the statistically equivalent fiber distribution directly [...] Read more.
The present work describes a methodology to compute equivalent volumes representing the microstructure of 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, based on a statistical characterization of the fiber distribution. In contrast to recent work, the methodology herein presented determines the statistically equivalent fiber distribution directly from cross-section micrographs, instead of generating random fiber arrangements. For this purpose, several regions, with different sizes and from different locations, are cropped from main cross-section micrographs and different spatial descriptor functions are adopted to characterize the microstructures in terms of agglomeration and periodicity of the fibers. Detailed information about the adopted spatial descriptors and the algorithm implemented to identify the fiber distribution, as well as to define the location of cropped regions, are given. From the obtained statistical characterization results, the minimum size of the equivalent volume required to be representative of the fiber distribution, which is found in the cross-section micrographs of 3D-printed composite materials, is presented. To support the findings, as well as to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, the homogenized properties are also computed using representative equivalent volumes obtained in the statistical characterization and the results are compared to those experimentally measured, which are available in the literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites)
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21 pages, 6831 KiB  
Article
Experimental Characterization and Analysis of the In-Plane Elastic Properties and Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of a 3D-Printed Continuous Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composite
by Jonnathan D. Santos, Alex Fernández, Lluís Ripoll and Norbert Blanco
Polymers 2022, 14(3), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14030506 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3042
Abstract
The use of continuous fiber as reinforcement in polymer additive manufacturing technologies enhances the mechanical performance of the manufactured parts. This is the case of the Carbon-Fiber reinforced PolyAmide (CF/PA) used by the MarkForged MarkTwo® 3D printer. However, the information available on [...] Read more.
The use of continuous fiber as reinforcement in polymer additive manufacturing technologies enhances the mechanical performance of the manufactured parts. This is the case of the Carbon-Fiber reinforced PolyAmide (CF/PA) used by the MarkForged MarkTwo® 3D printer. However, the information available on the mechanical properties of this material is limited and with large variability. In this work, the in-plane mechanical properties and the interlaminar fracture toughness in modes I and II of Markforged’s CF/PA are experimentally investigated. Two different standard specimens and end-tabs are considered for the in-plane properties. Monolithic CF/PA specimens without any additional reinforcement are used for the interlaminar fracture toughness characterization. Two different mode I specimen configurations are compared, and two different test types are considered for mode II. The results show that prismatic specimens with paper end-tabs are more appropriate for the characterization of the in-plane material properties. The use of thick specimens for mode I fracture toughness tests complicates the characterization and can lead to erroneous results. Contrary to what has been reported in the literature for the same material, fracture toughness in mode I is lower than for mode II, which agrees with the normal tendency of traditional composite materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanics of 3D-Printed Polymers and Polymer Composites)
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