Deposition of continuous glass fibers on a curved surface by 3D printer based on fused filament fabrication technology

Improving the mechanical properties of the 3D printed parts by a 3D printer based on fused filament fabrication by continuous fibers (carbon, glass, and aramid) has been the focus of many researchers. Due to the nature of additive manufacturing processes that produce the parts layer by layer, in most of the research, continuous fibers are layered on a 2D surface. Robots with high degrees of freedom have been used in cases where fibers are placed on curved surfaces. In this research, a method for deposition of the continuous glass fibers on a curved surface is presented. This method is implemented on a simple and cheap 3D printer. The presented method is based on modifying the G-code, creating a rotating axis for the nozzle, and applying and using computer-aided design and manufacturing techniques. Finally, by 3D scanning of the printed sample and comparing it with the 3D model, the amount of deviation and tolerance of the surface form is determined. The obtained experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the presented method for the deposition of continuous fibers on curved surfaces. With the presented system, continuous fibers are deposited on a curved surface that consists of paths with different degrees of curvature, by simultaneous impregnation of fiber and polymer. Comparing the scanned sample with the printed sample shows that the maximum deviation is 0.1 mm. This error is acceptable due to the nature of shrinkage and distortion of thermoplastic polymer materials in forming processes according to the DIN 16901 standard.