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Design and Additive Manufacturing of Lightweight Composite Structures

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A special issue of Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing (ISSN 2504-4494).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 10150

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dong Lin

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Guest Editor

School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, 218 Dearborn Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Interests: three-dimensional printing of multifunctional aerogels; 3D printing of carbon fiber composites; metal additive manufacturing; metal matrix composites; laser processing

Dr. Kun Fu

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Guest Editor

Center for Composite Materials, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Interests: additive manufacturing; textile-based functional device; fiber composite; energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Lei Chen

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan (UM)-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI 48128, USA
Interests: advanced manufacturing and materials design; metals and piezoelectric composites; computational materials; mechanics; energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a collective term for processes that fabricate 3D objects using layer-based material deposition. It enables the seamless integration of product design and manufacturing phases; thus, it offers significant advantages over conventional manufacturing. The design freedoms of AM offer a singular opportunity to revolutionize existing manufacturing boundaries for lightweight composite structures, especially for complex structures.

To date, the dominant part of the 3D printing industry has immensely relied on single-material printing. This issue, paired with limited choices of available resins compatible with commercial printers, has severely limited variations in the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of 3D-printed objects. These limitations have led to the development of multi-material printers with partial control on material composition and properties, offering layered composite materials. Furthermore, multiple printing heads have allowed for printing using blended composites with functional and variable features. The 3D printing of lightweight composites is currently conducted by stereolithography (SL), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering (SLS), and extrusion. This is one of the hottest topics in the field of AM and is under intense attention. This also offers a significant improvement in mechanical properties; however, it requires a complex procedure to be manufactured and is difficult to incorporate into processing. Implementing the traditional methods of composite manufacturing in AM requires novel technologies.

Dr. Dong Lin
Dr. Kun Fu
Dr. Lei Chen
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. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing 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 1800 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

additive manufacturing
lightweight composite
design and optimization
polymer matrix composites
metal matrix composites
ceramic matrix composites

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 5445 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact Strength for 3D-Printed PA6 Polymer Composites under Temperature Changes

by Jorge Guillermo Díaz-Rodríguez, Alberto David Pertuz-Comas and Oscar Rodolfo Bohórquez-Becerra

J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2023, 7(5), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp7050178 - 01 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2076

Abstract

This paper shows how temperature influences impact energy for continuous fiber additively manufactured (AM) polymer matrix composites. AM composites were fabricated with a nylon-based matrix and four continuous reinforcements: fiberglass, high-temperature fiberglass (HSHT), Kevlar, and carbon. The tested temperatures ranged from −40 to 90 °C. The chosen printed configuration for the lattice structure and fiber volume was the configuration that was found to perform the best in the literature, with a volumetric fiber content of 24.2%. Impact tests showed that the best response was fiberglass, HSHT, Kevlar, and carbon, in that order. The impact resistance was lowered at temperatures below ambient temperatures and above 50 °C. Additionally, each material’s impact energy was adjusted to third-degree polynomials to model results, with correlation factors above 92%. Finally, the failure analysis showed the damage mechanisms of matrix cracking, delamination in the printing direction, fiber tearing, and fiber pulling as failure mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Additive Manufacturing of Lightweight Composite Structures)

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18 pages, 8837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Development of an Assembled Truss Core Lightweight Panel and Its Method of Manufacture

by Zhilei Tian, Chenghai Kong, Jingchao Guan, Wei Zhao, Apollo B. Fukuchi and Xilu Zhao

J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2023, 7(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp7010029 - 23 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1361

Abstract

In this study, a new assembled truss core panel and the method for processing it were proposed in order to improve the performance of the lightweight panel structure. The proposed assembled truss core panel can be easily processed by simple punching and bending. A processing experiment on an assembled truss core panel was conducted using an aluminum plate with a thickness of 1.0 mm, and the validity and performance of the proposed processing method were verified. A three-point bending test was performed using an assembled truss core panel obtained using the processing experiment. The assembled truss core panel had a relatively high bending stiffness in its early elastic deformation and a relatively long-lasting bending deformation after the initial failure. Its application as a lightweight panel has been confirmed. In order to compare it with the most commonly used honeycomb lightweight panel, FEM (finite element method) analysis was performed on the assembled truss core panel and on the honeycomb panel under the same conditions. The bending stiffness of the assembled truss core panel was found to be 10.60% higher than that of the honeycomb panel. Furthermore, to improve the productivity of the assembly-type truss core panel, construction of a production line using progressive dies was proposed, and the possibility of practical development for mass production was examined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Additive Manufacturing of Lightweight Composite Structures)

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Review

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28 pages, 9336 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Laser Additive Manufacturing of High-Strength Aluminum Alloys: Challenges and Strategies

by Som Dixit and Shunyu Liu

J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2022, 6(6), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp6060156 - 08 Dec 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5783

Abstract

Metal additive manufacturing (AM)-fabricated high-strength aluminum (HS-Al) alloys (2xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx) tend to produce fatal metallurgical defects such as porosity and cracks. Since Al is the most important lightweight structural material in automotive and aviation industries, successful printing of HS-Al alloys is in high demand. Therefore, this review focuses on the formation mechanisms and research advancements to address these metallurgical defects. Firstly, the process optimization strategies, including AM parameter optimization, hybrid AM processes, and post-processing treatment, and their effectiveness and limitations have been reviewed thoroughly. However, process optimization can address defects such as porosity, surface roughness, and residual stresses but has limited effectiveness on cracking alleviation. Secondly, the research efforts on composition modification to address cracking in AM of HS-Al alloys are critically discussed. Different from process optimization, composition modification alters the solidification dynamics in AM of HS-Al alloys and hence is considered the most promising route for crack-free printing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Additive Manufacturing of Lightweight Composite Structures)

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