Development and Characterization of Metal-CFRP Additively Manufactured Multi-Material Structures

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing has revolutionized the manufacturing industry through its rapid and geometrically-intricate capabilities as well as economic benefits. One of the applications for AM is the development of multi-material structures have the capability to create multi-material systems with tailored properties in user definable locations. This research explored the feasibility of development of multi-material composite-metal structure through Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The research objective is realized through developing a design for manufacturing space, where interfacial adhesion between the composite-metal layers is considered as the prime objective. For this purpose, a hierarchical approach is adopted which constitutes initial optimization of the interfacial adhesion of fiber-metal structure in the manufacturing process, achieved by optimizing essential printing parameters and implementing heat treatment procedures, including annealing and remelting. In addition to this, the subsequent effects of heat treatment on the tensile strength and hardness of the fiber-metal structure were also examined. The procedure was developed and optimized by the implementation of advanced Design of Experiment approaches, which involved the utilization of exsitu measurements. After manufacturing and heat treatment procedures, the research proceeded to carry out a macroscopic analysis of the specimens. The multi-material structure that has been developed can now be effectively utilized in a wide range of electro-mechanical applications.