Continuous 3D Printing of Biomimetic Beetle Mandible Structure with Long Bundles of Aramid Fiber Composites

Shuigen Li; Chang Liu; Yulong Zhang; Wei Zhang; Xuefei Xu; Zhaohua Lin; Yunhong Liang

doi:10.3390/biomimetics8030283

Continuous 3D Printing of Biomimetic Beetle Mandible Structure with Long Bundles of Aramid Fiber Composites

Biomimetics (Basel). 2023 Jul 1;8(3):283. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics8030283.

Authors

Shuigen Li¹, Chang Liu¹, Yulong Zhang¹, Wei Zhang², Xuefei Xu², Zhaohua Lin³, Yunhong Liang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ The Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China.
² Jilin Province Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute of Light Industrial and Chemical Products Inspection, Changchun 130022, China.
³ School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China.
⁴ Institute of Structured and Architected Materials, Liaoning Academy of Materials, Shenyang 110167, China.

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced composites are an ideal high-performance composite material made from a combination of high-strength continuous fibers and a polymer matrix. Compared to short cut fibers, continuous long strand fibers can improve the mechanical properties of fiber composites more effectively. Herein, continuous aramid fiber-reinforced PLA filaments with fiber centering were prepared by modifying the outlet design of a desktop-grade thermoplastic single-screw melt extruder. Inspired by the cross-laminated structure of a beetle's mandible fibers, a biomimetic structure composite was printed, which demonstrates a significant influence on the mechanical properties. The G-code printing program was developed, and the microstructure of the fracture surface of the specimen was analyzed. The uniform and orderly arrangement of aramid fibers within the PLA resin-based 3D-printed specimen was found. Consequentially, the bionic composites exhibits a 12% increase in tensile strength and a 5% increase in impact toughness, confirming the feasibility of utilizing continuous 3D printing to manufacture long bundles of aramid fiber composite filaments for enhanced mechanical performances.

Keywords: 3D printing; bionic structure printing; continuous long bundle aramid fiber printing; self-made filament.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Project of National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0703300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52105299, 52175271, 52021003, 91948302), Science and Technology Development Plan Project of Jilin Province (20210509047RQ, 20210508057RQ), Program for JLU Science and Technology Innovative Research Team (2017TD-04), and the Young and Middle-aged Technology Innovation Leading Talents, the Team Projects of Science and Technology Development Plan of Jilin Province (20230508041RC).