3D printing allows controlled deposition of composite components, which the user defines by the modification of the printing parameters. The article demonstrates that all observed printing parameters (infill type, infill orientation) influence the tensile test results of nylon reinforced with chopped carbon fiber. The highest tensile strength obtains specimens with the maximum number of walls around the circumference. The plastic region of the tensile diagram differs significantly with the change of material orientation in the structure, as the specimens with material deposited 45/−45 to the load axis have four times greater tensile strains and 20% higher tensile stresses than 0/90. The assessment of results reveals the significant difference between deformations at break and permanent deformations. In addition, the permanent lateral strain reaches up to 20%. Finally, the article consists of a brief assessment of the printing parameters (printing time, weight) of individual series. The future modelling in FEA software requires additional experiments to verify the viscoelastic properties of the material.

The additive manufacturing represents a new production method of composites reinforced with a continuous fibre. In recent times, the material produced by this new manufacturing method constituted a replacement for conventional materials—e.g., steel in many technical areas. As the research on FRTP composites is currently under way, the purpose of this article is to add information to the mosaic of studies in this research area. The scientific articles published until now have focused especially on mechanical testing, such as tensile and bending mechanical testing and their assessment. Therefore, the authors decided to carry out and assess the impact test of the FRTP composites produced by 3D printing because this area offers a large extent of research activities. We observed the influence of the reinforcement in the form of the micro-fibre carbon in the thermoplastic (Onyx) or a continuous reinforcement fibre in the lamina on the specimen’s behaviour during the impact load processes. The results of the experimental measurements show that the presence of a continuous fibre in the structure significantly affects the strength of the printed specimens; however, the design process of the printed object has to take into account the importance of selecting a suitable fibre type. The selection of a suitable strategy for arranging the fibre in the lamina and the direction of the impact load against the position of the fibre seem to be very important parameters.

This article investigates the impact of changes in the internal structure of composite materials on their dynamic properties. The present research focuses on 3D-printed specimens with different reinforcement fiber arrangements. The specimens are printed on a Markforged Mark Two 3D printer. The base material is nylon filled with chopped carbon fibers (Onyx) and the reinforcement is in the form of long carbon, glass and Kevlar fibers. The experiment is carried out by the impact method. The principle of this method is to expose the specimen to a short impulse of force while monitoring its frequency response. The obtained results determine the natural frequencies and internal damping of the individual structures. We found that the highest damping is achieved by specimens with glass and Kevlar fibers in 45°, 90° and ±45° configurations. On the other hand, the lowest damping is achieved by specimens with carbon fibers and 0° and 0°,90° configurations. Also, the specimens with circumferential reinforcement show lower damping coefficient values. The knowledge and results of this work can be used in the development of new components; for example, in the transport industry, where the low weight and sufficient strength of components are important factors. These components have to absorb vibrations from various sources, such as motors and external influences.

Additive manufacturing is process of joining material, bringing many benefits such as customization and low production cost. Markforged developed Continuous fiber fabrication technology, which allows to print continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composites. Although printed CFRTP parts achieve mechanical properties better than another 3D printed counterparts, there is demand to gain suitable mechanical properties comparable with conventionally manufactured parts using improvements in printing parameters and fiber deposition. In this paper, the main goal is analyzing of geometry constraints of fiber deposition and modeling options in FEM program ADINA. Additionally, stress distribution analysis with regard to stresses in matrix and fibers will be performed.

Additive manufacturing is a relatively new technology that has recently undergone noticeable development, which includes several types of technologies based on the gradual deposition of material in layers. The most widespread method is Fused Filament Fabrication, which belongs to an extrusion technique. The typical feature of extrusion methods is material deposition in the filaments form. Therefore, printer users cannot apply the same approach to products as with conventional technologies. The authors of the paper have been working with the mentioned technology for several years. The primary goal of the research is the investigation how printing parameters affect the mechanical properties of laminates reinforced with chopped carbon fibres. Based on experience and knowledge, the authors report in this article the most common challenges encountered in the preparation process of specimens for tensile testing. This knowledge can also help ordinary users of 3D printers, who also face these challenges without being aware of the impact of these pitfalls on mechanical properties.

Progress in the industry is accompanied by the development of new materials and more efficient technological production processes. At present, additive production is becoming very attractive in all industries (research, development, production), which brings a number of advantages compared to subtractive methods (customization, production speed, control of material properties by users, etc.). The main advantage of 3D printing is the controlled deposition of material in defined places. Instead of demanding manual labour, fully automated production via computers leads to the manufacturing of complex components from materials whose production in conventional ways would be problematic or even impossible. Because these are new technologies, the main direction of research at present is to identify the basic physical properties of these materials under different types of loading. The main goal of this article is to observe the dependence of the behaviour of the extruded material (thermoplastic reinforced with chopped carbon fibre) on the printing parameters (thickness of the lamina, the orientation of the fibres of the printed material, etc.). Based on published scientific works, it appears that these settings have a significant impact on the achieved physical properties. This is the reason why the authors decided to analyze the influence of these parameters on the basis of processed data from experimental measurements of mechanical properties in the MATLAB program. As this is FFF printing, an essential condition is to identify and specify the directional dependence of the behavior of the printed material. This physical phenomenon is a necessary condition for gradual knowledge for the purposes of a subsequent mathematical description of the material properties. According to the authors, for the purposes of modeling these materials in FEM-based programs, it is essential to define the directional dependence in the plane of the lamina.