Short Glass Fiber Reinforced Composites Manufactured by Stereolithography
Abstract
The effectiveness of manufacturing short glass fiber composites using stereolithography (SLA) was investigated. Modifications were made to a standard SLA printer to induce a flow field through the resin tank. In this study a 1/32 inch glass fiber content of 15% by volume was printed in combination with a commercial Peopoly SLA UV curable resin. Testing was performed for fiber dispersion and whether the addition of glass fiber would increase the mechanical properties of the composites. While printing it was found the surface finish of the specimens was coarse from the glass fibers. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to observe flow around the printed parts. The results of the tests concluded the glass fiber increased some properties but had negligible effects on others. Further investigation involving various fibers and different sizing of the fibers have the potential to increase the mechanical properties found in the research.