Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LLNL carbon fibre composites
The ability to 3D print has offered new degrees of freedom for carbon fibre and enabled the researchers to have greater control over the parts’ mesostructured.
Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have become the first to 3D print aerospace-grade carbon fibre composites.
This latest development, the group believe, will enable greater control and optimisation of lightweight materials with greater strength than steel. Published by Scientific Reports earlier this week, the authors of the research have suggested it represents a significant advance in the development of micro-extrusion 3D printing techniques for carbon fibre.
“The mantra is ‘if you could make everything out of carbon fibre, you would’ – it’s potentially the ultimate material,” said Jim Lewicki, principal investigator and the paper’s lead author. “It’s been waiting in the wings for years because it’s so difficult to make in complex shapes. But with 3D printing, you could potentially make anything out of carbon fibre.”
Due to carbon fibre being strong and lightweight, and with a resistance to high temperature, it is suitable for a range of industries including aerospace, defence, automotive and sports. Carbon fibre composites are typically fabricated one of two ways: by physically winding filaments around a mandrel, or by weaving the fibres together like a wicker basket, resulting in finished products that are limited to either flat or cylindrical shapes.
Kate Hunts/LLNL
LLNL carbon fibre
Lawrence Livermore scientists James Lewicki (left) and Jennifer Rodriguez examine a 3D-printed carbon fibre part created using a direct-ink writing process developed at LLNL.
LLNL researchers, however, have printed several complex 3D structures through a modified Direct Ink Writing (DIW) 3D printing process. Lewicki and his team also developed and patented a new chemistry able to cure the materials in a matter of seconds, rather than hours, and used the lab’s high-performing computing capabilities to develop accurate models of the filament’s flow.
“We developed a numerical code to simulate a non-Newtonian liquid polymer resin with a dispersion of carbon fibres. With this code, we can stimulate evolution of the fibre orientations in 3D under different printing conditions,” said fluid analyst Yuliya Kanarska. “We were able to find the optimal performance, but it’s still a work in progress. Ongoing efforts are related to achieving even better alignment of the fibres by applying magnetic forces to stabilise them.”
The ability to 3D print has offered new degrees of freedom for carbon fibre and enabled the researchers to have greater control over the parts’ mesostructured. Additionally, the material’s conductive nature allows for directed thermal channelling within a structure. The resultant substance, researchers are sure, could be used to make high-performance aeroplane wings, satellite components that are insulated on one side and don’t need to be rotate in space, and wearables that can draw heat from the body but don’t allow it in.
