The influence of dynamic rheological properties on carbon fiber-reinforced polyetherimide for large-scale extrusion-based additive manufacturing

Christine Ajinjeru, Vidya Kishore, John Lindahl, Zeke Sudbury, Ahmed Arabi Hassen, Brian Post, Lonnie Love, Vlastimil Kunc, Chad Duty

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Printing high-performance thermoplastics on large scale extrusion-based additive manufacturing platforms requires stability over a range of processing conditions. However, studies on the melt dynamics and processing conditions of these thermoplastics in big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) are limited. This study characterizes the dynamic rheological behavior of polyetherimide (PEI), a high-performance thermoplastic, as well as carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced PEI composites as a BAAM feedstock material. The viscoelastic properties, such as the storage and loss moduli and complex viscosity, are investigated in relation to the BAAM extrusion process. The results show that CF-PEI composites behave like a viscous liquid during BAAM extrusion. The addition of CF to PEI enhances the shear thinning effect and significantly increases the complex viscosity (2.5× increase for 20% CF, and 3× for 30% CF). The increased viscosity increases the torque on the extruder, which may be alleviated by increasing the material processing temperature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)411-418
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Volume99
Issue number1-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2018

Funding

Acknowledgements Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. The authors also thank SABIC for providing materials used for this work.

Keywords

  • Additive manufacturing processing conditions
  • Carbon fiber-reinforced PEI
  • Dynamic rheological properties
  • Large scale additive manufacturing
  • Melt rheology

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