A Preliminary study: Support-free manufacturing of rotationally symmetric pipes from continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymers with multi-axis 3D printing
Zsolt KÁLLAI, Johann KIPPING, Jan BREMER, Thorsten SCHÜPPSTUHL
Abstract. This paper presents an innovative approach that combines multi-axis fused filament fabrication (FFF) with continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) to evaluate the feasibility of manufacturing rotationally symmetric CFRP pipes without mandrels or support structures. Traditional methods, such as filament winding, encounter limitations with geometric complexity and require tooling that makes them unsuitable for producing complex, individual parts. The proposed process uses the manufacturing flexibility of FFF and advantageous material properties of CFRP to create rotationally symmetric pipes on-demand. In this article, the experimental setup is described, the material and process-related challenges are discussed and a preliminary study that involves the printing of rotationally symmetric pipes to verify the viability of the process is presented. The findings aim to advance additive manufacturing techniques, enabling the production of lightweight, customized pipes for various industrial applications, and establishing this method as a cost-effective and efficient alternative.
Keywords
Radial 3D Printing, Continuous Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers, Carbon Fiber Pipes
Published online 5/7/2025, 10 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Zsolt KÁLLAI, Johann KIPPING, Jan BREMER, Thorsten SCHÜPPSTUHL, A Preliminary study: Support-free manufacturing of rotationally symmetric pipes from continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymers with multi-axis 3D printing, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 54, pp 344-353, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903599-38
The article was published as article 38 of the book Material Forming
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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