This article aims to merge two evolving technologies, namely additive manufacturing and composite manufacturing, to achieve the production of high-quality and low-cost composite structures utilizing additive manufacturing molding technology. This work studied additive manufacturing processing parameters at various processing stages on final printed part performance, specifically how altering featured wall thickness and layer height combine to affect final porosity. Results showed that reducing the layer height yielded a 90% improvement in pristine porosity reduction. Optimal processing parameters were combined and utilized to design and print a closed additive manufacturing molding tool to demonstrate flexible composite manufacturing by fabricating a composite laminate. Non-destructive and destructive methods were used to analyze the composite structures. Compared to the well-established composite manufacturing processes of hand lay-up and vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding methods, additive manufacturing molding composites were shown to have comparable material strength properties.
Keywords: additive manufacturing; composite fabrication; composite tooling; porosity.