Exploring the Innovative Application of Composite Material 3D Printing

The expanding exploration of composite materials in 3D printing is set to revolutionize traditional manufacturing methods, offering substantial cost and time savings.

The Institute of Industrial New Materials (Dezhou), founded in January 2021, is at the forefront of this revolution. This provincial “New-style R&D Institution” in China focuses on marine composite materials, 5G communication composites, advanced composite manufacturing processes, and high-end equipment. Partnering with INTAMSYS, the institute leads two initiatives to apply 3D printing technology in developing and implementing composite product parts.

A significant project at the institute involved developing intake manifolds for a specific aircraft engine. These components, essential to engine systems, pose challenges due to their complex structures, making mold production costly and time-consuming. The institute turned to FFF 3D printing technology to address these issues, choosing the FUNMAT PRO 610HT 3D printer from INTAMSYS and PEEK-CF composite material for its high performance.

The FUNMAT PRO 610HT, designed for high-temperature thermoplastic materials like PEEK, ULTEM, and PPSU, features a constant temperature chamber and dual-nozzle heating up to 500°C. This ensures precise, wrap-free printing of high-temperature materials. The final 3D printed intake manifold, measuring 218.4×216.4×95.4mm, was developed with experts from both the institute and INTAMSYS, optimizing the design for manufacturing (DfAM) and refining the printing process.

Key improvements include:

  Weight Reduction by 30%: The 3D printed product's thinnest wall measures only 1.7mm, significantly lighter than traditional 3mm injection-molded parts.

  Dimensional Accuracy: Parts are controlled within ±0.2mm, ensuring precise installation.

  Enhanced Mechanical Strength by 30%: With a mechanical strength of 100MPa, the product exceeds traditional PA66-GF components by over 30%.

  High-Temperature Resistance: The product meets application requirements at 144°C.

Using traditional injection molding, this part would incur tooling costs of about $27,803 and a 45-day lead time. In contrast, 3D printing reduced costs to one-tenth and production lead time to just 4-7 days.

Apart from directly fabricating composite material components, blending 3D printing with traditional techniques unlocks solutions for challenges that conventional methods struggle with, ensuring optimal performance, cost-efficiency, and time-saving advantages. With this innovative strategy in mind, the institute collaborated with a leading domestic university to develop a robotic composite material manipulator arm.

Initially, the FUNMAT PRO 610HT 3D printer was utilized to seamlessly produce the internal support structure of the manipulator arm using PEEK-CF material. This component is recognized for its large size, curved surfaces, high stiffness-to-weight ratio, and exceptional specific strength. These qualities showcase the printing equipment’s capability to create complex high-performance parts.

Subsequently, the institute applied a pre-impregnated layup method to envelop carbon fiber around the 3D-printed structure. This approach yielded a lightweight, robust composite material manipulator arm swiftly and affordably, circumventing the need for mold tooling while achieving structural strength comparable to aluminum alloys.

Beyond integrating with pre-impregnated layup processes, 3D printing offers extensive potential for merging with various other techniques, including traditional filament winding, automated layup, and compression molding processes.

3D printing has achieved breakthroughs in both the direct manufacturing of product components, as well as in integrating with traditional processes, making significant contributions to enhancing efficiency and reducing costs in the manufacturing of composite material products. Through collaboration with INTAMSYS, the Institute of industrial New Materials has demonstrated its strength in engineering innovation, showcasing the immense potential of 3D printing technology in designing, manufacturing, and developing applications for composite material products.