1. Fiber Orientation Effects in Fused Filament Fabrication of Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
- Author
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Tom Mulholland, Natalie Rudolph, J. Boxleitner, Sebastian Goris, and Tim A. Osswald
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,Materials science ,020502 materials ,General Engineering ,Fused filament fabrication ,02 engineering and technology ,Polymer ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Thermal conductivity ,0205 materials engineering ,chemistry ,Polyamide ,Heat exchanger ,General Materials Science ,Extrusion ,Fiber ,Composite material ,0210 nano-technology ,Anisotropy - Abstract
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is a type of additive manufacturing based on material extrusion that has long been considered a prototyping technology. However, the right application of material, process, and product can be used for manufacturing of end-use products, such as air-cooled heat exchangers made by adding fillers to the base polymer, enhancing the thermal conductivity. Fiber fillers lead to anisotropic thermal conductivity, which is governed by the process-induced fiber orientation. This article presents an experimental study on the microstructure-property relationship for carbon fiber-filled polyamide used in FFF. The fiber orientation is measured by micro-computed tomography, and the thermal conductivity of manufactured samples is measured. Although the thermal conductivity is raised by more than three times in the fiber orientation direction at a load of only 12 vol.%, the enhancement is low in the other directions, and this anisotropy, along with certain manufacturing restrictions, influences the final part performance.
- Published
- 2018
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