The key to unlocking strength in continuous fiber 3D printing is by understanding where you can leverage strands or panels such that they distribute the loading forces in tension or bending, as we covered in the Physics of 3D Printing. Below, we share a few different methods for identifying and placing fiber within your part to provide strength where you need it.
As you design your part, consider how it can be optimized for the layer-by-layer 3D printing process. Below are six steps to keep in mind when designing your parts.
As we covered in Physics of 3D Printing, imagine the fiber is like raw spaghetti. If you try to bend it, it snaps. If you try to compress it lengthwise by trying to push the two endpoints closer together, it also snaps. However, if you load it in tension by pulling on it, it can hold a decent load. Like the spaghetti, continuous fibers are strongest when loaded in tension. The key is understanding where the fibers are loaded in tension, and how a given load can distribute amongst the local fibers.
The development of stronger 3D printing materials has encouraged manufacturers across industries to explore CNC vs 3D printing, and find ways to 3D print functional parts that were previously CNC machined. The 3D printing process can save manufacturers considerable time and money, while still generating the quality necessary for industrial-level production.
Manufacturers that make the switch can leverage 3D printing software to prototype and produce parts in a single day, for a fraction of the cost of traditional CNC machining. However, there are still several key areas where CNC may still be the right choice.
From physical to financial, let’s walk through some of key areas to evaluate before deciding between CNC vs 3D printing.
Both 3D printing technology and composite materials, especially carbon fiber, are big players in the world of prosthetics, and with the Mark One 3D printer, students at Auburn University have designed and prototyped unique concepts in the field of accessible devices. Jerrod Windham, associate professor of Industrial Design in Auburn’s School of Industrial and Graphic Design, leads a class that is part of a project nine years in the making. Each semester, rehabilitation and industrial design students work with client users with physical disabilities to develop specific products that target their needs or desires as individuals.
Just as with any manufacturing process, there are optimized and non-optimized ways to design parts for 3D printing. In this case, DFM (Design For Manufacturing) becomes DFAM — Design For Additive Manufacturing — and while your printer won’t chastise you like your machinists will for failing to consider fabrication methods in your design, the part integrity will suffer. This article covers the general outline for printing a composite part on Markforged printers: design, reinforce, print. You might be surprised by how straightforward composite printing is!
Fiber appears in 3D printed parts in two different formats, and it’s important to understand the distinction.
How do you decide what material is best for a manufactured part? This simple question has a complicated answer. An engineer must weigh criteria across several domains, including intended function, loading scenarios, work environment, production quantity, available manufacturing processes, and more. 3D printing is appropriate for some production applications, and less so for others. Here, we explore a new process for fabricating end-use parts: 3D printing composite materials.
We often write about the different tools, fixtures, and production parts that so many companies around the world use Markforged technology to fabricate. But it’s not just businesses that benefit from additive manufacturing.
Whether plastic or composite, FFF or CFF, 3D printed parts are strongest in planes parallel to the print bed — so the print orientation can literally make or break a part. Deposition-based 3D printers build parts in layers of plastic laid down on top of one another. Almost always, the molecular bonds forming the material extrusion itself are stronger than the adhesive bonds of one extrusion of plastic laid on another. Think of the layers like cracks or wood grain - they are slices of material stacked together, so it’s easy to pull those slices apart vertically, or push them past each other in shear.