Fabrication and Testing of Hybrid Polymer Composite Material by Using Carbon, Glass, Kevlar Fibers

Composites which made up of fiber reinforcements are universally endorsed option for the automobiles with a lightweight. Due to the unique properties of fiber-reinforced composites, it became a perfect alternative for traditionally used materials. Most of the automobile industries prefer polymer matrix fiber-reinforced composites for the reason that its light weight helps in carbon emission reduction and Additive manufacturing (AM) produces a complex shaped product from its data, layer by layer, with high precision and much less material wastage. As compared to the conventional manufacturing process, there are many positive environmental advantages of additive manufacturing technologies. Most importantly, there is less waste of raw material and the use of new and smart materials. In this work, we first focused on creating the composite material utilizing the Hand Lay-Up method with materials such as Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite with Copper Oxide (CuO) Nanoparticles and Banana Glass Fiber. Following that, we readied ASTMD638 specimens for both compressive and tensile testing. We created an ASTMD638 model for the investigation’s tensile and compressive tests using Solid Works design program, and we then saved the design model in STL format. This STL format was uploaded into the CURA software for slicing. The slicing model was then saved into G-code format, and it was printed in a fused deposition modeling machine. Lastly, we tested both specimens using a compressive test setup in a Universal Testing Machine model (INSTRON-3369) UTM, and the results showed 3D printed files.