Long-fibre reinforced polymer composites by 3D printing: influence of nature of reinforcement and processing parameters on mechanical performance

Functional Composite Materials

Table 2 Parameters Employed and Levels Set for Sample Manufacture

Parameter	Number of Levels	Parameter Values	Justification
Matrix Material (M)	2	Nylon, Onyx	Only two available
Reinforcement Material (R)	3	GF, CF KF	Only three available
Number of Fibre Layers (RL)	2	4, 12	Allowable extremes for sample thickness
Fibre Orientation (F)	2	(0⁰,45⁰), (0⁰,90⁰)	Bi-directional for wider application of the materials
Matrix	Reinforcement	Layers	Orientation
Nylon	GF	4	0,90
Nylon	GF	12	0,90
Nylon	CF	12	0,45
Nylon	CF	4	0,90
Nylon	KF	4	0,45
Nylon	KF	12	0,90
Nylon	GF	12	0,45
Nylon	KF	12	0,45
Nylon	KF	4	0,90
Nylon	KF	12	0,90
Nylon	KF	4	0,45
Nylon	GF	4	0,90
Onyx	KF	4	0,90
Onyx	GF	12	0,90
Onyx	KF	12	0,45
Onyx	GF	4	0,45
Onyx	CF	12	0,90
Onyx	CF	12	0,45
Onyx	GF	12	0,45
Onyx	CF	4	0,45
Onyx	GF	4	0,45
Onyx	CF	4	0,90
Onyx	CF	4	0,45
Onyx	CF	12	0,90