3D printing of short-carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoset polymer composites

There is a 27 second video that plays on a loop and it is fascinating to watch: Carbon fiber material pouring out of a 3D printer and slowly swirling and stacking like soft-serve ice cream.

A strong, lightweight material that has been used for decades on everything from airplane panels and wind turbine to tennis racquets is not found in an ice cream cone or cup.

The material doesn't have a structure to hold it in place as it unfolds on a heated surface in the video.

This free-form creation shows off the work of Mostafa Yourdkhani, assistant mechanical engineering professor in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, who is working to reduce the cost, time and energy required for production of these complex structures

"We're making it quicker and more energy efficient," said yourdkhani. The paper was written by two mechanical engineering PhD students. Imagine if you wanted to bake a cake, you put the dough on a bench, and it becomes a cake with atrigger. We make structures without molds. The patterns are light and save fuel.

His team is one of the first in the world to complete this type of printing.

The video has gotten a lot of likes on his account on the professional networking site. He posted a video from his work on in-situ printing and curing. There are two printing strategies with no post-curing step. Our paper was written by Morteza Ziaee.

"I'm very passionate about this technology, having worked in the field for many years."

He and his graduate students have found a way to print carbon fiber in a very short amount of time with minimal heat. Carbon fiber can be produced in huge ovens the size of semi-trucks, which take up to 10 hours to heat.

Forget the giant molds and reduce the time to mere minutes, that's what Yourdkhani's team has done. Liquids that turn solid through a one-way chemical reaction will not turn back into liquid when reheated. A thermosetpolymer is used in woodworking.

He's engaged engineering undergrads and high school students in his research this summer, but he's also looking for students from other disciplines.

Chemistry, mechanical engineering, robotics, and computer science are all connected to make this happen.

More information: Morteza Ziaee et al, 3D Printing of Short-Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoset Polymer Composites via Frontal Polymerization, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c02076 Journal information: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces