Additive manufacturing of advanced polymers and composites
Advanced polymers & composites are attracting increasing attention in industrial applications due to excellent mechanical performance and unique properties. As such, the development of advanced polymers & composites can fulfil many important engineering missions, such as, the safety improvement, thermal management, weight reduction, energy-absorption enhancement, and so forth.
Meanwhile, recently-developed additive manufacturing or 3D printing technique, e.g., fused filament fabrication (FFF), stereolithography (SLA), etc., has undergone significant development, opening new horizons for manufacturing small-scale and complex polymer or composite structural parts that cannot be appropriately made using conventional techniques.
With these significant aims, this Article Collection is dedicated to the field of novel and engineering solutions in additive manufacturing of advanced polymer & composite materials and structures. Some subjects are mentioned here for reference and submission, e.g.
• 3D printing technology (viz. the recently-developed technique including FFF, SLA, etc., the conventional additive approach including AFP, etc., and especially the intelligent manufacturing technique, etc.)
• Novel design methods (theoretical, computational, etc.)
• Polymer & fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites by 3D printing (such as reinforcement with continuous or discontinuous carbon fibres, etc.)
• Processing and characterisation of additively manufactured polymers & composites (new experimental methods or findings)
• Life-cycle assessment of 3D printed polymer & composite parts (e.g., fatigue, corrosion resistance and durability analysis)
• Structural health monitoring of 3D printed polymers & composites (e.g., non-destructive testing, repair)
• Engineering applications (aerospace, automotive, etc.)
Edited by
Dr Yuan Chen(Southern University of Science and Technology)
Prof Kunkun Fu(Tongji University)