CN104149339B - A kind of continuous fiber reinforced composite 3D printer and Method of printing thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A continuous long fiber reinforced composite material 3D printer and its printing method, using 3D printing technology, combined with composite material fiber laying technology, realizes the 3D printing of resin-based continuous long fiber reinforced composite material, without pre-customizing molds and The pre-treated fiber prepreg tape greatly reduces the cost; at the same time, the 3D printing method can better and more conveniently control the direction of the reinforcing fibers in the manufactured parts, and it is easier to obtain composite parts with customized mechanical properties , can realize rapid manufacturing of composite material parts with complex structures; compared with the original composite material fiber laying process, the present invention has wider application range and higher production efficiency.

Description

A continuous long fiber reinforced composite material 3D printer and its printing method

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of 3D printing of fiber-reinforced composite materials, in particular to a 3D printer for continuous long fiber-reinforced composite materials and a printing method thereof.

Background technique

Resin-based fiber-reinforced composite materials, including continuous long-fiber and short-fiber-reinforced composite materials, the manufactured parts have high specific strength, large specific modulus, material properties can be designed, corrosion resistance and durability are good, and the thermal expansion coefficient and The similarity of concrete and other advantages make resin-based fiber-reinforced composite materials meet the needs of modern structures that are large-span, towering, heavy-loaded, light-weight and high-strength, and work under harsh conditions. Fields such as robotics and medical care are increasingly used. 3D printing technology refers to the fact that the print head performs material filling and manufacturing according to the cross-sectional information of the current layer under the control of the program, and then quickly manufactures the required parts through layer-by-layer accumulation. Because it can manufacture arbitrary complex parts and has better printing freedom It has more and more practical application value in industrial production and daily life.

However, at present, the relatively advanced manufacturing methods of resin-based long fiber reinforced composite material parts mostly use composite material fiber laying technology, that is, according to the laying direction and laying thickness requirements determined by the part structure, laying with multiple degrees of freedom is adopted. The head automatically lays multiple groups of fiber prepreg bundles or narrow strips on the surface of the mold. This method requires pre-treated fiber prepregs and extremely expensive molds, and is not suitable for mass production of long fiber reinforced parts with complex structures. At the same time, there are few 3D printers and related research work that can realize the manufacture of fiber-reinforced composite materials at home and abroad, and no mature continuous long-fiber-reinforced composite material 3D printer has been found, so this greatly limits the application of 3D printing technology in fiber-reinforced composite materials. Developments in the field of parts manufacturing.

Contents of the invention

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the above-mentioned prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a continuous long fiber reinforced composite material 3D printer and its printing method, which can not only control the fiber orientation of 3D printed continuous long fiber reinforced composite material parts, but also obtain specific Mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, lighter, stronger, longer-lasting parts, without the need to design and manufacture molds, thereby greatly reducing cost and manufacturing time, and promoting the wide application of fiber-reinforced composite materials.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts following technical scheme:

A continuous long fiber reinforced composite material 3D printer, including a 3D printing head 5, the 3D printing head 5 is installed on a two-dimensional motion platform 11, a workbench 12 is provided below the 3D printing head 5, and the workbench 12 is connected to a lifting device 21 , the left and right sides of the workbench 12 are connected to the feeding tray 2 of the reinforcing fiber 1 and the plastic filament 8, the reinforcing fiber 1 is fed into the 3D printing head 5 through the tensioning device 3 and the fiber guide tube 4, and the plastic filament 8 is guided by the plastic filament The tube 9 is also sent into the 3D printing head 5;

Described 3D printing head 5 comprises printing head screw rod 6, and the outside of printing head screw rod 6 is connected with printing head screw housing 10, and the root of printing head screw rod 6 is connected with large transmission wheel 16, and large transmission wheel 16 passes transmission belt 15, small transmission wheel The wheel 14 is connected to the print head stepping motor 13, the end of the print head screw 6 and the print head screw shell 10 is connected with a nozzle 7, the print head screw 6 is provided with a hollow channel, and the reinforcing fiber 1 passes through the fiber guide tube 4 and passes through the print head The hollow channel of the screw 6 reaches the nozzle 7, and the root of the print head screw shell 10 is provided with a plastic wire guide tube 9, and the plastic wire 8 passes through the plastic wire guide tube 9 and is wound on the print head screw 6, enters the nozzle 7, and prints The head screw shell 10 is connected with a heating device 17 and a temperature controller 18 near the nozzle 7 , and a shearing device 20 is provided outside the nozzle 7 .

The printing method of described printer, comprises the following steps:

1) The reinforcing fiber 1 starts from its tray 2, passes through the tensioning device 3, and is supplied to the 3D printing head 5 by the fiber guide tube 4, and the reinforcing fiber 1 passes through the hollow channel of the printing head screw 6 to reach the nozzle 7, the described Reinforcement fiber 1 is a fiber for composite material reinforcement of glass fiber, carbon fiber or aramid fiber;

2) The plastic wire 8 starts from its tray 2, is guided by the plastic wire guide tube 9, passes through the print head screw shell 10, is wound on the print head screw 6, and enters the nozzle 7;

3) When performing 3D printing of parts, the program controls the two-dimensional motion platform 11 to drive the 3D printing head 5 on the workbench 12 to move according to the section data of the current layer model;

4) At the same time, the print head stepping motor 13 drives the print head screw 6 to rotate through the small transmission wheel 14, the transmission belt 15, and the large transmission wheel 16, so that the plastic filament 8 is continuously extruded to the nozzle 7, and the heating device in the middle 17 and temperature controller 18 guarantee that plastic wire material 8 is in molten state;

5) The reinforcing fiber 1 is mixed with the molten plastic filament 8 at the nozzle 7 to form a composite filament 19, and is extruded from the outlet of the nozzle 7, and the composite filament 19 is cooled and deposited on the workbench 12, because the reinforcing fiber 1 has It has good toughness and is adhered to the workbench 12, so it can be pulled out of the fiber tray 2 continuously with the movement of the two-dimensional motion platform 11;

6) After the section of the current layer of the model is completed, the shearing device 20 cuts off the composite wire 19 at the exit of the nozzle 7, and then the lifting device 21 will bring the workbench 12 down by one layer thickness;

7) Repeat steps 3) to 6) until the part is completed.

Since the present invention combines 3D printing technology with fiber-reinforced composite material molding technology, the molding direction is well controlled, and 3D printing of resin-based continuous long fiber-reinforced composite materials is realized; moreover, no pre-customized molds and pre-treatment are required in this process The processed fiber prepreg tape greatly reduces the cost and process complexity; at the same time, the 3D printing method can more accurately control the direction of the reinforcing fibers in the manufactured parts, and it is easier to obtain composite materials with customized properties Parts can realize rapid manufacturing of composite parts with complex structures; of course, compared with the original composite fiber laying process, this method is not only suitable for the manufacture of large parts, but also suitable for mass production of small parts. The scope of application is wider and the production efficiency is higher.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the printer of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of the 3D printing head of the present invention.

detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, a kind of continuous long fiber reinforced composite material 3D printer, comprises 3D printing head 5, and 3D printing head 5 is installed on the two-dimensional movement platform 11, and the below of 3D printing head 5 is provided with workbench 12, and workbench 12 and The lifting device 21 is connected, and the reinforcement fiber 1 and the material tray 2 of the plastic filament 8 are placed on the left and right sides of the workbench 12. It is also fed into the 3D printing head 5 through the plastic wire guide tube 9;

Referring to Fig. 2, the described 3D printing head 5 includes a printing head screw 6, the outside of the printing head screw 6 is connected to the printing head screw shell 10, the root of the printing head screw 6 is connected with a large transmission wheel 16, and the large transmission wheel 16 is passed through a transmission belt 15. The small drive wheel 14 is connected to the stepping motor 13 of the print head, the end of the print head screw 6 and the print head screw housing 10 is connected with a nozzle 7, the print head screw 6 is provided with a hollow channel, and the reinforcing fiber 1 passes through the fiber guide tube 4 Pass through the hollow channel of the print head screw 6 and reach the nozzle 7. The root of the print head screw housing 10 is provided with a plastic wire guide tube 9. The plastic wire 8 is wound on the print head screw 6 through the plastic wire guide tube 9 and enters the nozzle. At 7, the print head screw housing 10 is connected to a heating device 17 and a temperature controller 18 near the nozzle 7, and a shearing device 20 is provided outside the nozzle 7.

The printing method of described printer, comprises the following steps:

1) Referring to Figure 1, the reinforcing fiber 1 starts from its tray 2, passes through the tensioning device 3, and is supplied to the 3D printing head 5 by the fiber guide tube 4; referring to Figure 2, the reinforcing fiber 1 passes through the hollow channel of the printing head screw 6 , reaching the nozzle 7, the reinforcing fiber 1 is a composite material reinforcing fiber of glass fiber, carbon fiber or aramid fiber;

2) Referring to Figure 1, the plastic wire 8 starts from its material tray 2 and is guided through the plastic wire guide tube 9; referring to Figure 2, after the plastic wire 8 is guided, it passes through the print head screw housing 10 and is wound on the print head On the screw 6, enter the nozzle 7;

3) Referring to FIG. 1, when performing 3D printing of parts, the program controls the two-dimensional motion platform 11 to drive the 3D printing head 5 on the workbench 12 to move according to the section data of the current layer model;

4) Referring to Figure 2, at the same time, the print head stepping motor 13 drives the print head screw 6 to rotate through the small transmission wheel 14, the transmission belt 15, and the large transmission wheel 16, and continuously extrudes the plastic filament 8 to the nozzle 7, and the middle The heating device 17 and the temperature controller 18 at the place ensure that the plastic filament 8 is in a molten state;

5) The reinforcing fiber 1 will be mixed with the molten plastic filament 8 at the nozzle 7 to form a composite filament 19, and be extruded from the outlet of the nozzle 7; with reference to FIG. 1 , the composite filament 19 is cooled and deposited on the workbench 12, Since the reinforcing fiber 1 has good toughness and is adhered to the worktable 12, it can be continuously pulled out of the fiber tray 2 along with the movement of the two-dimensional motion platform 11;

6) Referring to Figure 1, when the section of the current layer of the model is completed, the shearing device 20 will cut off the composite wire 19 at the exit of the nozzle 7, and then the lifting device 21 will bring the workbench 12 down by one layer thickness ;

7) Repeat steps 3) to 6) until the part is completed.

Since the present invention combines 3D printing technology with fiber-reinforced composite material molding technology, the molding direction is well controlled, and 3D printing of resin-based continuous long fiber-reinforced composite materials is realized; moreover, no pre-customized molds and pre-treatment are required in this process The processed fiber prepreg tape greatly reduces the cost and process complexity; at the same time, the 3D printing method can more accurately control the direction of the reinforcing fibers in the manufactured parts, and it is easier to obtain composite materials with customized properties Parts can realize the rapid manufacture of composite parts with complex structures; of course, compared with the original composite fiber laying process, this method is not only suitable for the manufacture of large parts, but also suitable for mass production of small parts. The scope of application is wider and the production efficiency is higher.

Claims (2)

1. a continuous fiber reinforced composite 3D printer, comprise 3D printhead (5), 3D printhead (5) is arranged on two-dimension moving platform (11), the below of 3D printhead (5) is provided with workbench (12), workbench (12) is connected with lowering or hoisting gear (21), the left and right of workbench (12) is connected with the charging tray (2) of fortifying fibre (1) and plastic wire material (8), fortifying fibre (1) is through tensioning apparatus (3), fiber guiding duct (4) is sent in 3D printhead (5), plastic wire material (8) is also sent in 3D printhead (5) through plastic wire guide pipe (9),

Described 3D printhead (5) comprises printhead screw rod (6), the outside of printhead screw rod (6) connects printhead screw rod shell (10), the root of printhead screw rod (6) is connected with large drive wheel (16), large drive wheel (16) is by driving belt (15), little drive (14) is connected with printhead stepper motor (13), printhead screw rod (6), the termination of printhead screw rod shell (10) is connected with nozzle (7), printhead screw rod (6) is provided with hollow duct, fortifying fibre (1) is through the hollow duct of fiber guiding duct (4) through printhead screw rod (6), arrive nozzle (7), the root of printhead screw rod shell (10) is provided with plastic wire guide pipe (9), plastic wire material (8) is wrapped on printhead screw rod (6) through plastic wire guide pipe (9), enter into nozzle (7) place, printhead screw rod shell (10) is connected with heater (17) and temperature controller (18) near nozzle (7) place, shear (20) is provided with outside nozzle (7).

2. the Method of printing of printer according to claim 1, is characterized in that, comprises the following steps:

1) fortifying fibre (1) is from its charging tray (2) in, through tensioning apparatus (3), 3D printhead (5) is supplied by fiber guiding duct (4), fortifying fibre (1) is through the hollow duct of printhead screw rod (6), arrive nozzle (7), described fortifying fibre (1) is the composite enhancing fiber of glass fibre, carbon fiber or aramid fiber;

2) plastic wire material (8) is from its charging tray (2)s, through the guiding of plastic wire guide pipe (9), through printhead screw rod shell (10), be wrapped on printhead screw rod (6), enter into nozzle (7) place;

3) when carrying out part 3D print job, programme-control two-dimension moving platform (11), drives 3D printhead (5) on workbench (12), moves according to the cross-section data of current layer model;

4) simultaneously, printhead stepper motor (13) drives printhead screw rod (6) to rotate by little drive (14), driving belt (15), large drive wheel (16), constantly extruded to nozzle (7) place by plastic wire material (8), heater (17) and the temperature controller (18) of middle ensure that plastic wire material (8) is in molten condition;

5) fortifying fibre (1) can be mixed to form composite wire material (19) with the plastic wire material (8) of melting mutually at nozzle (7) place, and be extruded from nozzle (7) outlet, composite wire material (19) cools deposition on workbench (12), due to fortifying fibre (1), there is good toughness and be adhered on workbench (12), therefore, it is possible to constantly pullled out from fiber charging tray (2) along with the motion of two-dimension moving platform (11);

6) when behind the cross section completing the current one deck of model, shear (20) cuts off the composite wire material (19) in nozzle (7) exit, then, lowering or hoisting gear (21) will to decline a lift height together with workbench (12);

7) step 3 is repeated) ~ step 6), until part completes.