A Periodic Homogenization Model Including Porosity to Predict Elastic Properties of 3D-Printed Continuous Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Adding continuous carbon fiber into the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process is critical to get reinforced composite structures with improved mechanical properties. However, it remains difficult for the designer to create optimized complex composite structures. Indeed, performing numerical simulations on these materials require to know their elastic coefficients, which are difficult to determine. Using a model of periodic homogenization which considers both the fiber content and the porosity, would be a quick solution to predict the mechanical properties of the printed composite. Based on material studies and validated mechanical tests, this simulation model allows the use of a homogeneous material to replace the composite material for the finite element analysis. This will greatly reduce the number of elements required in the model, leading to a big decrease of the computation cost. Hence, the numerical model has potential to perform simulation-driven design processes, such as generative design.