Date Approved
6-18-2024
Embargo Period
6-18-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
College
Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering
Advisor
Paromita Nath, Ph.D. & Nand Singh, Ph.D.
Committee Member 1
Behrad Koohbor, Ph.D.
Keywords
process-structure-property relationships, fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Subject(s)
Additive manufacturing; Composite materials
Disciplines
Materials Science and Engineering | Mechanical Engineering
Abstract
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are widely used in various industries because of their high stiffness-to-weight ratio. However, traditional manufacturing processes restrict the application of FRP composites to the production of parts with simple geometries. With the advent of additive manufacturing (AM), it is possible to produce topologically optimized parts with complex geometries using chopped FRPs. Fully leveraging the advantages of AM in the fabrication of chopped FRP parts requires a thorough understanding of the effect of the process parameters on the microstructure, and subsequently on the mechanical properties of the manufactured part. This research focuses on studying the process-structure-property (P-S-P) relationship in additively manufactured FRPs, particularly carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide composite, using a physics-based model integrated with experiments. The proposed framework consists of two steps: (1) Quantifying the effect of the process parameters on the microstructure using experiments (P-S relationship). (2) Determining the mechanical properties at the macroscale based on the microstructure using a physics-based model (S-P relationship). The macroscale properties predicted by the P-S-P framework at different process parameter settings are compared to observations from experiments to validate this approach. A MATLAB code is developed for the computational efficiency of the P-S and S-P linkage in the proposed framework. This framework will assist in tailoring the microstructure and macroscale properties of additively manufactured chopped FRP parts to meet requirements specific to the intended application.
Recommended Citation
Modala, Indu, "Investigation of Process-Structure-Property Relationships in Additively Manufactured Chopped Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 3246.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3246
