Thermomechanical Stability Analysis for Designing the 3D Printable Carbon-Fiber
Abstract
Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRIP) ink is an example of a functional 3D printable ink that has been employed for additive manufacturing of the parts of aircrafts, warfighters, drones, and spacecrafts. Despite the sustained efforts towards fabricating this ink, a lack of thorough molecular-level understanding of the thermo-responsiveness of the ink has led to a deficiency in precisely controlling the thermo-mechanical properties of the composites printed with this ink. In this proposal, attempts will be made to address this challenge by fabricating 3D printable thermo-responsive CFRIP inks with the design knowledge obtained from a multiscale simulation framework. Such simulation-informed fabricated inks will be subsequently used to direct-write 3D structures having properties comparable to those obtained by traditional manufacturing processes. Three interconnected research tasks will be carried out to meet this objective. In the first task, a highly rigorous multiscale computational platform (consisting of Molecular Dynamics Simulations and continuum Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD simulations) will be developed to predict (a) the properties of the ink as a function of its composition and temperature and (b) the stability issues associated with the syringe printing of this ink. The MD simulations will consider both equilibrium and non-equilibrium (e.g., conditions when the ink is exposed to large temperature gradients) scenarios and quantify the corresponding properties, behavior, and stability of the ink. The information on the properties and the structures of the ink, as revealed by the MD simulations, will be subsequently used by the CFD simulations to quantify the thermofluidics of the 3D printing processes with the CFRIP ink along with pinpointing the involved stability issues. In the second task, the simulation-designed ink will be fabricated and characterized to unravel its thermophysical and thermomechanical properties. These quantities will be tested against the predictions from the simulations. Subsequently, the ink will be syringe-printed and the thermo-fluidic properties of the printed traces will be tested. In the third and final task, the ink properties will be controlled to print freestanding, threedimensional objects on flat and curved surfaces. Subsequently, the reliability of these objects under different stress conditions will be tested in order to ensure that these printed components are of similar qualities to those obtained by traditional, non-additive-manufacturing processes. The proposal is one of the earliest attempts to develop and design 3D printable CFRIP ink through enabling multiscale simulations, visualization experiments, and reliability analysis. Such inks will be critical for the fabrication of those parts of warships, warfighter, aircrafts, etc. that extensively employ nanoscale-carbon-fiber-reinforced nanocomposites materials. The ability to “print” these materials, in a setting that does not compromise on the properties of the materials, will afford unprecedented capabilities of developing most complex of structures otherwise not possible. Additionally, the capabilities to 3D print such CFRIP inks will enable on-demand printing of parts on board aircrafts and ships as well as in-situ repairing of printed parts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 02, 2020
- Source ID
- N004212010001
Entities
People
- Siddhartha Das
Organizations
- United States Navy
- University of Maryland