Post-Processing and Characterization of Additive Manufactured Carbon Fiber Reinforced Semi-Crystalline Polymers

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the effect of post-processing on additive manufactured (AM) continuous carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) performance. As-printed AM CFRPs do not perform as well as conventionally manufactured CFRPs with the same composition. Possible improvements to AM CFRP performance include annealing and applying uniaxial pressure with elevated temperature. Samples were subjected to pressure and temperature treatments and annealing at a constant temperature. Treated materials were subjected to three-point bending tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to characterize and assess sample performance. Results were assessed for flexural strength, flexural modulus, void content, fiber content, and layer thickness. Increased temperature combined with pressure in post-processing resulted in higher flexural modulus, higher maximum flexural stress, and decreased void content. Void content decreased with increasing temperature and pressure