Yazıcı M. (Executive)
TUBITAK Project, 2019 - 2020
Project Summary The purpose of
this project is to develop a new device which can produce continuous fiber
thermoplastic composite parts with the Additive Manufacturing technology and
to obtain a low-cost product suitable for commercial, academic and
industrial, superior to a few existing
counterparts. Additive
Manufacturing technology is developing day by day, and its costs are rapidly
falling. It is clear that Future Industry 4.0 AM will be the essential
element of Industry 4.0 applications. Also, different applications are being
introduced day to day in the direction of development of personalized
products. Techniques that produce products that can be evaluated functionally
in the place of direct use of products manufactured by articulated production
technology are insufficient. For example, the sintering of different metal
and ceramic powders with layered production grinding is efficiently used in
the fields of aerospace, space, and medicinal products, where low production
quantities are required, for more than ten years. However, these devices and
the necessary powder products are still costly. Production speeds are still
very low. The products obtained from 3D printer technologies using polymer
materials are emerging as products with low strength, which can be used with
more non-functional purposes. This situation pushes new quests. Fiber
reinforced polymer composite materials have been used for many years as an
alternative to conventional materials due to the low specific gravity and
very high specific stiffness of each branch of the industry. In other words,
the low density and strength polymer material is reinforced with high
strength, stiffness and low-density fibers incorporated therein to develop
high strength and low-density materials that will favor both properties.
There are some production methods developed for the production of final parts
from these materials. In these methods, parts can be produced with specialized
equipment and mold investments. It is used in the production of products in
various sectors such as aviation, space, defense, automotive, marine vehicles,
and health sector. With the manufacturing flexibility provided by the
Embedded Manufacturing (EÜ) technology, it is possible to produce final parts
that can be printed directly by combining the mechanical, physical and
chemical properties of their components, qualities suitable for use as final
parts provided by composite materials. Recycling of waste is also possible
when thermoplastic composite material technology is used. This is a criterion
for the automotive sector, apart from the benefits it provides to the
environment. To produce thermoplastic composite parts, printers that use
layered production technology but produce parts directly with composite
material have begun to be developed. This technology is very new. There are
only two products that are commercialized. However, more patents have been
issued. Both imported patents and commercialized products have significant
shortcomings. The formation of weakly interfacial regions between the contact
surfaces, low surface qualities, low-temperature layer bonding and high layer
thicknesses. The specific aspects of the process and the parts of the
literature search have been detailed in this issue. In this project,
continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (PP, PA, PC, etc.) filaments
shall be used in the form of a strip with a maximum thickness of 1 mm. The
mentioned filaments are again produced in our laboratory, in our extrusion,
fiber opening, and molding system. The EU system to be developed will improve
the adhesion strength between the layers with a small follower printing
cylinder which prepares these filaments by heating the area between the front
layers during use as a layer. Immediately following the laser, it is aimed to
improve the surfaces by making surface improvements on the lateral side
surfaces. Thus, the thickness of the composite layer will be reduced to 0.1
mm. The proportion of fibers in the polymer is between 20-30% in the present
examples. This project will be able to increase the fiber volume ratio up to
70%. This volume ratio is a parameter that will directly affect the part
strength obtained. As a result of this project, it
is aimed to reach the first national 3D composite printer which can directly
produce high strength continuous fiber reinforced (carbon, kevlar, basalt,
glass, etc.) thermoplastic composite
(PA, PP, PC etc.) parts by 3-dimensional model. We will design the entire head system of this printer, and the
raw materials will also be developed from us using national products. It is targeted that the produced parts will be
50% higher in strength and 30% faster in production than the foreign
counterparts of the products produced
by this system.After accomplishing all novel purposes of this product, the parts that will be used as final products. These final parts will be produced directly with a
very reasonable cost and from the 3D CAD model
in Turkey. Investment costs will be
reduced, and the competitive
advantage to be gained will increase
the chances of getting more jobs from international markets. It is possible
to sell these devices and the developed raw materials with a production
investment to be made. Thus, a small
contribution to the reduction of the current account deficit, an increase in
the number of small entrepreneurs and a positive effect on the increase in employment are expected. Especially in the field of
material development and application, a lot of new scientific studies have
the possibility of opening. Thanks to this system developed, three international declarations, two scientific publications, and at least one
patent applications are expected as a
result of the project to develop
different thermoplastic materials to be made here. Under the scope of the
study, undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students will work. The thesis of the Two MSc students will be given directly by this project. Indirectly, a large number of MSc. And Ph.D.
students, who is working in our Applied Mechanics and Advanced Materials
(UMIMAG) research group. Moreover, the
use of this device in their thesis. |