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To ensure the smooth insertion of the side rod/fiber bundle during the three-dimensional woven preform contour locking process, the influence of the diameter, speed, and other parameters on the free end vibration displacement response of the side rod and the fiber-carrying needle is analyzed. By calculating the kinetic energy and potential energy of the two separately, the dynamic equations of the side rod and the fiber-carrying needle are established based on Hamilton's principle and discretized. The state equations are solved using the Runge–Kutta method, and the free end vibration displacement responses of the side rod and the fiber-carrying needle for different parameters are obtained. The results show that the equilibrium position and the maximum amplitude of the free end of the side rod and the fiber-carrying needle decrease with the increase of the section diameter and the decrease of the axial speed. And the circular tube wall thickness has less impact on the free end vibration displacement of the fiber-carrying needle. The overall analysis shows that the fiber-carrying needle vibration response is smaller than that of the side rod under the same parameters.

A metal-melting direct writing process, using semi-solid isothermal heat treatment to form high-quality semi-solid components, realized the integrated innovation of semi-solid formation and additive manufacturing. An experimental study was carried out on semi-solid isothermal heat treatment for metal-melting direct-writing technology, using 2A12 aluminum alloy as raw material. The semi-solid isothermal heat treatment was carried out over different temperature ranges, and four-stages evolution mechanism of the semi-solid microstructure in the semi-solid melting direct writing process was investigated. The effects of holding temperature and time on the microstructure of the semi-solid isothermal heat treatment of the alloy were put forward. According to the analysis of the results of the semi-solid-melting direct-writing test, the corresponding relationship between semi-solid microstructure and extrusion formability was found. The results show that when the holding temperature is 640–650 °C and the holding time is 20–25 min, the liquid phase rate can reach about 40%, and the direct-writing forming technology can be carried out stably.

The placement of a lateral tensioning rod is the main event during the formation of a flexible-oriented three-dimensional composite preform. Inaccurate placement can result in defective fiber weaving, degrading the overall quality of the preform. Furthermore, the manual execution of this task is time-consuming and ineffective. In this study, an automatic and digital placement method and mechanism are proposed to address these problems for the first time. In particular, an image processing method is proposed to recognize the placement region, where the geometric features are irregular and the feature differences are neglectable compared to the background. The placement position is then detected using a single industrial endoscope and the similar decision theorem of triangles. Furthermore, the proposed method and mechanism are applied to a digital placement system. The lateral tensioning rod can be accurately placed, as the relative error between the actual and ideal placement positions is within 0.5 %. The proposed method, therefore, automatizes the manual task and is essential in the development of preform formation toward digital manufacturing.

The main structure of a fiber-reinforced composite is determined by a preform. The manufacturing of preforms is associated with the generation of fiber hairiness or even breakage due to friction, w...

Coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) are an essential design criterion of the three-dimensional carbon fiber reinforced SiC matrix composites (3D C/SiC). Representative volume element (RVE) models of microscale, void/matrix, and mesoscale developed in this work were used to investigate the CTEs of these composites. A coupled temp-displacement steady-state analysis step was created for assessing the thermal expansions behaviors of the composites by applying periodic displacement and temperature boundary conditions. Three RVE models of cuboid, hexagonal and fiber random distribution were respectively established to comparatively study the influence of fiber package pattern on the CTEs at microscale. Similarly, the effects of different void size, locations, and shapes on the CTEs of the matrix are comparatively analyzed by the void/matrix models. The prediction results at mesoscale corresponded closely to the experimental results. The effect of the porosities on the CTEs was studied by the void/matrix RVE models. The voids were effective in lowering the CTE of the 3D C/SiC composites. Furthermore, the effect of fiber volume fractions on the CTE were also taken into consideration. Equal in-plane and out-of-plane CTEs were realized by selecting appropriate fiber volume fractions for the different directions. The multiscale models developed in this work can be used to predict the thermal expansion behaviors of other complex structure composites.

3D printing of continuous fiber reinforced resins offers a new approach of designing and manufacturing composite materials. The study applied 3D printing method to fabricate T-beam structures, and investigated the damage process and damage morphology of T-beams under three-point bending loads. Meanwhile acoustic emission was taken advantage of to study the damage process, and principal component analysis and k-means clustering algorithm was used to analyze the signals and classify the damage. The results indicate that the fabrication of continuous fiber-reinforced T-beams can be achieved by 3D printing, and the presence of rib height can significantly improve the bending load capacity by approximately 400% and reduce the maximum deflection by 51%. The analysis of the acoustic emission data indicates that the T-beam bending damage modes includes matrix cracking, interlayer delamination, fiber and resin debonding, fiber cracking and fiber fracture, and the classification results can well explain the bending damage process of the T-beam.

Three-dimensional composite preform is the main structure of fiber-reinforced composites. During the weaving process of large-sized three-dimensional composite preform, relative rotation or translation between the fiber feeder and guided array occurs before feeding. Besides, the weaving needles can be at different heights after moving out from the guided array. These problems are mostly detected and adjusted manually. To make the weaving process more precise and efficient, we propose machine vision-based methods which could realize accurate estimation and adjustment of the relative position-pose between the fiber feeder and guided array, and make the needles pressing process automatic by recognizing the position of the weaving needles. The results show that the estimation error of relative position-pose is within 5%, and the rate of unrecognized weaving needles is 2%. Our proposed methods improve the automation level of weaving, and are conducive to the development of preform forming toward digital manufacturing.

The additive manufacturing of continuous fiber composites has the advantage of a high-precision and efficient forming process, which can realize the lightweight and integrated manufacturing of complex structures. However, many void defects exist between layers in the printing process of additive manufacturing; consequently, the bonding performance between layers is poor. The bonding neck is considered a key parameter for representing the quality of interfacial bonding. In this study, the formation mechanism of the bonding neck was comprehensively analyzed. First, the influence of the nozzle and basement temperatures on the printing performance and bonding neck size was measured. Second, CT scanning was used to realize the quantitative characterization of bonding neck parameters, and the reason behind the deviation of actual measurements from theoretical calculations was analyzed. When the nozzle temperature increased from 180 to 220 °C, CT measurement showed that the bonding neck diameter increased from 0.29 to 0.34 mm, and the cross-sectional porosity reduced from 5.48% to 3.22%. Finally, the fracture mechanism was studied, and the influence of the interfacial bonding quality on the destruction process of the materials was determined. In conclusion, this study can assist in optimizing the process parameters, which improves the precision of the printing parts and performance between the layers.

The mechanism of hard surfaces worn by soft polymers is not clearly understood. In this paper, a new hypothesis has been proposed, it holds that the stress acting on the hard surface under certain working conditions is the main reason for wear of the hard surface by a soft polymer. The hypothesis was investigated by changing the contact form between tribo-pairs. For this, friction tests between six polymer spheres and smooth, rough, and inclined monocrystalline silicon surfaces were carried out. The results show that for the same tribo-pair, the silicon surface will not be worn in some contact forms, but in other contact forms it will be worn. We believe the wear of hard surface by a soft polymer is the result of the combined stress state action on the hard surface.

Thermal conductivity behaviors are one of the most important evaluations of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix (C/C) composites in the field of thermal protective structures. In order to deepen the understanding of the thermal conductivity behaviors of C/C composites, the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of C/C composites is studied by considering voids and the fiber volume fractions. The representative volume element (RVE) models of microscale and mesoscale are proposed. The parameters of the RVE models are captured by X-ray micro-computed tomography. The carbon matrix equivalent models and fiber volume fraction models along the z-direction were established. The effects of the porosity and fiber volume fraction along the z-direction on the thermal conductivity were analyzed. The proposed model was validated by experimental results at room temperature. Further, the numerical methods developed in this study can provide guidance for predicting the thermal conductivity of C/C composites with complex structures.

Laminate composites contain holes as a means of connection in industrial applications. A better understanding of the mechanical properties of open-hole components is necessary. Herein, progressive damage postbuckling analysis models are proposed for investigation of tensile damage and compressive buckling behaviors of open-hole laminate composites. The progressive damage model is based on failure criteria provided by the continuum damage mechanics model; virtual crack closure technology was employed to calculate the energy release rate for crack delamination in compressive postbuckling analysis. The models were utilized to analyze variations in the tensile and compressive mechanical properties, failure process, and buckling evolution of open-hole laminate composites using finite element analysis. The tensile failure patterns and failure processes of plies with different open-hole laminate composite angles were obtained and analyzed. Buckling characteristics, as well as the progression of buckling onset, buckling propagation, crack delamination, unstable delamination, and global buckling, were investigated. The influence of delamination crack length and crack distribution on the buckling properties of open-hole laminate composites are discussed in detail. Additionally, unstable and stable buckling characteristics were examined. The numerical results were in good agreement with theoretical and experimental results; damage initiated at the edge of a hole propagated to two sides with the onset of matrix damage, followed by fiber damage. The fiber damage of a 0°-ply led ultimately to laminate failure. The laminate with a symmetrical crack distribution showed stable buckling, whereas a short, nonsymmetrical distribution of cracks usually led to unstable buckling and delamination.

Sand mold 3D printing technology based on the principle of droplet ejection has undergone rapid development in recent years and has elicited increasing attention from engineers and technicians. However, current sand mold 3D printing technology exhibits several problems, such as single-material printing molds, low manufacturing efficiency, and necessary post-process drying and heating for the manufacture of sand molds. This study proposes a novel high-efficiency print forming method and device for multi-material casting molds. The proposed method is specifically related to the integrated forming of two-way coating and printing and the short-flow manufacture of roller compaction and layered heating. These processes can realize the high-efficiency print forming of high-performance sand molds. Experimental results demonstrate that the efficiency of sand mold fabrication can be increased by 200% using the proposed two-way coating and printing method. The integrated forming method for layered heating and roller compaction presented in this study effectively shortens the manufacturing process for 3D-printed sand molds, increases sand mold strength by 63.8%, and reduces resin usage by approximately 30%. The manufacture of multi-material casting molds is demonstrated on typical wheeled cast-iron parts. This research provides theoretical guidance for the engineering application of sand mold 3D printing.

In order to improve the quality and efficiency of the Z-directional 3D preform forming, the Z-yarn friction force distribution model of the preform and its wear mechanism were investigated. Designed the tensile force measuring device of the replacement guide sleeves,the measured tensile force is equivalent to the Z-yarn friction force. Found that the frictional force was proportional to the number of preform layers, the frictional force applied to the one preform decreased from the corner, edge, sub-edge and middle in order. Established BP neural network model to predict the friction at different positions of preform with different layers, the error is within1.9%. The wear of Z-yarn was studied at different frictional positions and after different times of successive implantation into the preform, showed that with the increase of the number of Z-yarn implantation and the friction force, the amount of carbon fiber bundle hairiness gradually increase, and the tensile fracture strength damage of the fiber is increasingly affected by the friction force,and in the corner position of the preform, when the number of implantation is 25 times, the fiber fracture strength will occur non-linearly and substantially decreased, in order to avoid fiber fracture in the implantation process, the Z-yarn needs to be replaced in time after 20~25 times of continuous

In accordance with the requirement of manufacturing dies quickly and economically, a hybrid forming method of stamping dies for automobile panels is proposed. The method combines digital patternless casting and high-power laser cladding. An experimental study is conducted on the hybrid forming process and its trial production and application in the manufacturing of stamping dies for typical panels. Results prove that the laser cladding layer exceeds HRC60 (Rockwell hardness) and thus meets the production efficiency requirement of automobile dies. The rate of defects is well controlled. Compared with traditional technology, this technology has remarkable advantages and advancement.

Purpose In this paper, the effects of the adhesive and curing agent contents on the tensile strength, bending strength, gas evolution and gas permeability of three-dimensional printed sand molds are studied. A strength model of the three-dimensional printed sand molds is proposed. The multi-material composite sand mold forming test is carried out. In addition, the mesostructure of the sand mold is studied. Design/methodology/approach The performances of three-dimensional printed sand mold such as tensile strength, bending strength, gas evolution and gas permeability are studied using the standard test methods. The mesostructure of the sand mold is studied by digital core technology. Findings A sand mold strength model based on the resin adhesive content, curing agent content and sand mold compactness are obtained. Two types of multi-material composite three-dimensional printed sand molds are proposed. An increase in the curing agent content in the sand mold widens the mesoscopic characteristic size distribution of the sand mold, and large-sized mesostructures appear, resulting in a decrease in the sand mold bearing capacity. Practical implications Process parameters that affect the performance of three-dimensional printed sand mold are revealed. The sand mold bearing curve provides a reference for the ultimate design of three-dimensional printed sand mold. Originality/value The paper deals with experimental work on the performance and mesostructure of multi-material composite three-dimensional printed sand mold with different contents of adhesive and curing agent. That gives a perspective on future designs of sand mold based on these principles.

Additive manufacturing technology has been increasingly applied to fabricate continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites for its potential in fabricating complex structures. Owing to the limited thermal and mechanical properties of the matrix, it is a critical trend to develop high-performance thermoplastics to widen engineering applications. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the properties of the prepared CCF/PEEK filaments together with their printed composites. The filaments were fabricated via a thermo-mechanical coupling process and were characterized by micromorphology observation, thermal and mechanical test. It was found that the impregnation behavior, thermal stability and mechanical performance of the filaments were improved with the increase of mold temperature and decrease of traction speed. The performance of printed specimens was evaluated by mechanical test and fracture analysis. It was concluded that the additive manufacturing process promoted the secondary impregnation behavior of the filaments. Higher nozzle temperature and bed temperature together with lower layer thickness and printing speed enhanced the tensile strength of printed specimens with maximum value reached 509.56 MPa. Besides, the analysis of failure mechanism indicated that filament fracture, horizontal cracks and filament pullout together with fiber breakage, fiber pullout, unimpregnated fibers and pores were the dominant failure modes for all printed specimens.

Continuous fiber additive manufacturing technology has developed rapidly in recent years, and pore has a great influence on the properties of composites. Through the optimization process of aramid fiber (AF) reinforced composite filament forming, the internal porosity of composites filament was reduced, and stable wire was provided for continuous fiber additive manufacturing. A mathematical model of 0° fiber orientation porosity was established, and the porosity of composites was measured by Micro-CT, and the correctness of the mathematical model was verified with the absolute error of 0.26%, and the relative error of 2.16%. The process parameters of printing speed, printing layer thickness, and printing spacing were designed by orthogonal experiment. The relationship between interlaminar shear properties and porosity of composites with 0° fiber orientation was studied.

In a comparison with two-dimensional (2D) composites, three-dimensional (3D) composites have attracted large interest in the high-tech field. This is mainly attributed to their superior out-of-plane mechanical properties. The flexible oriented 3D woven technology is an emerging technology for manufacturing 3D composite preforms with complicated architectures. However, the forming process is obviously interfered by the deformation of the guide bar array (GBA). A novel systematic deformation model of the GBA has, in the present paper, been developed for the description of the deformation behavior during fabrication of the 3D orthogonal and 2.5D composite preforms. A coupling of the weaving and GBA construction parameters was also considered in the proposed model. The results show that the experimental and theoretic deformation characteristics match well, with a difference less than 11%, which is an indication of an effective systematic deformation model. This investigation has both contributed to the reduction of computational efforts and the optimization of the flexible oriented 3D woven process.

Purpose This paper aims to determine how the viscosity and curing agent content affect the flowability of moist silica sand granules. In addition, a coating device was designed according to the flow properties of silica sand granules. Design/methodology/approach The flowability of silica sand granules premixed with two curing agents of different viscosities is studied using a Jenike shear apparatus. An open-ended device was used in discharge testing of sand granules with a design based on the variable dip angle of the two plates and variable outlet size. Findings The test results show that increasing the curing agent content would significantly decrease the flowability of silica sand granules, and a curing agent of higher viscosity has a greater effect on the flowability of silica sand. The presence of a curing agent strengthens the cohesion among sand granules, lubricates them and restrains their deformation. The shape function of the coating device was obtained by theoretical derivation. Practical implications The flow properties provide a valuable theoretical guidance for the design of coating device for sand mold printing. Originality/value This paper deals with experimental work on flow properties of silica sand granules with different viscosities and curing agent content. The shape function of a wedge-shaped coating device is obtained based on experimental data.

Sand mold 3D printing technology is an advanced manufacturing technology which has great flexible manufacturing ability. A multi-material composite sand mold can control the temperature field of metallic parts during the pouring process, while the current sand mold 3D printing technology can only fabricate a single material sand mold. The casting temperature field can not be adjusted by using single sand mold material with isotropous heat exchange ability during the pouring process. In this work, a kind of novel coating device was designed. Multi-material composite sand molds could be manufactured using the coating device according to the casting process demands of the final parts. The influences of curing agent content, coating velocity and scraper shape on compactness and surface roughness of the sand layer (silica sand and zircon sand) were studied. The shapes and sizes of transition intervals of two kinds of sand granules were also tested. The results show that, with the increase of the added volume of curing agent, the compactness of sand layer reduces and the surface roughness value rises. With the increase of the velocity of the coating device, the compactness of sand layer reduces and the surface roughness value rises similarly. In addition, the scraper with a dip angle of 72 degrees could increase the compactness value of the sand layer. The criteria of quality parmeters of the coating procedure are obtained. That is, the surface roughness (δ) of sand layer should be equal to or lesser than half of main size of the sand particles (Dm ). The parameter H of the coating device which is the distance between the base of hopper and the surface of sand layer impacts the size of transition zone. The width of the transition zone is in direct proportion to the parameter H, qualitatively. Through the optimization of the coating device, high quality of multi-material sand layers can be obtained. This will provide a solution in manufacturing the multi-material composite sand mold.