Flexural properties of 3D printed continuous flax fiber reinforced polyethylene composites
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Natural fibers are classified as green energy materials and have embodied the principles of sustainable development. This paper impregnated natural continuous flax fibers (CFF) with polyethylene (PE) on a self-developed melt impregnation device, obtained CFF/PE prepreg filaments. A fused deposition machine was used to 3D print CFF/PE composites. The effect of impregnation temperature on tensile properties of CFF/PE filaments was explored. The influence of various 3D printing parameters on bending performance and dimensional accuracy of CFF/PE composites was investigated. The results indicated that the tensile strength of the prepreg filament reached to the maximum value (12.41 MPa) at impregnation temperatures of 150 °C–155 °C. At a layer width of 1.5 mm, a layering thickness of 0.8 mm, a printing speed of 10 mm/min, and a printing temperature of 200 °C, the flexural strength of CFF/PE composites was improved to 24.74 MPa from 13.14 MPa. When the layer width was 2.0 mm and the layer thickness was 0.6 mm, the porosity was reduced to 3.88%. At a layer width of 1.5 mm, severe polymer accumulation occurred between adjacent printing lines, resulting in a significant impact on the dimensional accuracy of the composites. The maximum deviation was approximately 1.45 × 0.57 × 2.32 (mm). As the number of bendings increased, the bending rebound angle decreased, and the bending performance deteriorated, until it kept level.
Source: PeerJ Materials Science
Authors: Minggan Wang, Xiaohui Song, Zhengwei Yang, Chunlei Luo, Songda Chi, Hao Jiang
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Awards: G2989914058, G4871636223
OpenAlex ID: W4409775920