Additive manufacturing of fiber-reinforced polymer composites: A technical review and status of design methodologies

Additive manufacturing (AM) of fiber-reinforced composites is gaining traction as an important manufacturing technology to produce complex, highly customized structures. AM processes enable the fabrication of complex 3D structures with control over fiber position and orientation, offering tremendous design freedom. Although the use of AM to fabricate fiber-reinforced composites is promising, various design difficulties remain. These include consideration of structural performance subject to manufacturing constraints on fiber placement, orientation, bend radius, and other relevant limitations. Design engineers will have to consider these limitations to be able to reap the full benefits of AM to fabricate fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This paper aims to provide a survey on the advances in multi-scale topology optimization, fiber orientation parameterization, micromechanics of fiber-matrix interactions and process planning specific for the AM of complex fiber reinforced composites. The status of recent research is summarized, and future directions outlined.