Effect of orientation on the bending properties of a carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic

Abstract. Additive manufacturing is becoming a very rapidly developing production technology. It provides a wide range of combinations of material processing and used techniques, including the possibility of using different types of 3D printing machines. In order to know the properties of the part and take them into account in the design of the product, it is necessary to know the behaviour of the sample after loading, which was produced under the given specific conditions. The manuscript aims to study the bending characteristics of samples made of plastic reinforced with carbon fibres using additive technology. The samples of the same type were fabricated by FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) using a MakerBot Method X printer. The experimental investigation was carried out using a Zwick 1456 testing machine. The experimentally tested samples were oriented in two different ways regarding the layers building. The measured data were evaluated and compared with the numerically obtained values. The results showed a strong effect of the sample orientation on the bending properties.