Study of mechanical properties under compression failure in reinforced composite materials produced by additive manufacturing

In this work, we study the mechanical properties under compression of composite materials with reinforced-rigid-matrix produced by additive manufacturing. The study considers different fiber orientations and number of reinforcement layers of the specimens. The experimental investigation was carried out for parts produced with a nylon matrix and fiberglass reinforcement. The composite material was manufactured through fused deposition modeling (FDM) in a Markforged Mark Two 3D printer, which allows the production of specimens satisfying the ASTM D3410 standards. Different filling patterns were analyzed (triangular, hexagonal and rectangular), as well as, the reinforcing fiber angles (0 degrees, +/- 30 degrees, and +/- 45 degrees), and the number of reinforcement layers (6, 12 and 18). The different configurations are analyzed in order to establish their performance under compression. Results indicate that to obtain a highly resistant material, more layers should be added and the fibers oriented parallel to the load axis.