Development of a 3D printer for long fiber-reinforced plastic and evaluation of the mechanical properties of printed parts

The field of three-dimensional (3D) printing, a technology that allows low-cost printing of complex 3D shapes with a high degree of modeling freedom, has exhibited significant growth over the last few years. This paper proposes a new 3D printing mechanism for long fiber-reinforced plastic as part of an effort to realize 3D-printed shapes with favorable mechanical properties and describes how prototype parts were printed using the new method. We also devise a method for modifying the fiber surface and other techniques for improving adhesion of fibers and UV resin. Mechanical testing of prototype parts printed using the proposed method indicates that the parts exhibit excellent mechanical properties as a result of filling with long fibers, indicating that the method yields a material with few voids and a high fiber volume fraction.