Abstract

Abstract

With the recent increase in the use of additive manufacturing (AM) in more and more challenging applications, the demands on the mechanical performance and sustainability of printed parts are increasing considerably. Among the different additive manufacturing technologies, fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the most widely used for thermoplastic materials. This work focuses on comparing the behaviour of parts obtained by FFF using a bio-based polyamide (BIOPA-11) reinforced with different types of fibres: short glass fibre (GF) and a fibrillar nanoclay (SEP, sepiolite). Different composites were prepared by melt process, converted into filaments used in FFF, and characterised the final parts. The thermal and mechanical properties obtained were systematically examined as a function of printing orientation, amount and type of fibre, accompanied by X-ray tomography image analysis of the internal parts of the pieces. As expected, anisotropic properties showed improvements in Young's Modulus and tensile strength in both composites with increasing amount of reinforcement, with respect to pure biopolyamide. However, the improvements in mechanical performance of the nanocomposites were very noticeable under many conditions (composition and direction of fabrication). The research shows that this is due to the stiffening mechanism, based on the polymorphism of BIOPA, which is induced by nanometric loadings. Additionally, the internal morphology of the nanocomposite parts showed small amounts of inter-filament cavitations, while the parts obtained from the GF composites showed irregular, intra-filament cavitations. Thus, the BIOPA11 nanomaterial parts are attractive in terms of properties, weight, cost reduction, and sustainability.

Abstract

Heat dissipation is an issue that is acquiring great importance to increase the efficiency in the utilization of the energy and extending the lifespan of the equipment. Traditionally, heat dissipation has been carried out using metals, but the increase in the requirements of equipment and devices, composites have gained importance. Graphite based composites have relevance in heat dissipation, particularly when the disperse material is a metal or metal carbide. The reason is the great value of thermal conductivity combined with good mechanical properties and lightness. Research has focused until nowadays on the composite graphite-MoC, although there are other composites with great potential, as that proposed in this manuscript: graphite- Cr3C2. The preparation of the composite graphite-Cr3C2 consisted in mechanical mixing of the staring powders, subsequent obtaining of the green compact of 40 mm in diameter and, finally, sintering at 2000 °C for 20 minutes under an applied pressure of 30 MPa in the Spark Plasma Sintering apparatus. The sintered material exhibited electrical and thermal conductivities in the in-plane direction of 1.08 MS/m and 215 W/m · °C, respectively, and a flexural strength of 113 MPa, which makes this material a suitable candidate for its application in heat dissipation.

Abstract

Si3N4 has high thermal and mechanical resistance, as well as high resistance to thermal shock and high thermal conductivity (320 Wm-1K-1). On the other hand, silicon oxycarbide glasses (SiOC) have a SiO2 matrix where part of the oxygen has been replaced by carbon and also contain a carbon phase homogeneously embedded within the mixed Si-O-C matrix. The properties of these materials can be designed depending on the precursors, synthesis-processing conditions, pyrolysis temperature and, above all, the addition of reinforcement materials, being able to obtain materials with certain characteristics depending on the application. In this work, dense SiOC/Si3N4 composite materials have been developed using the non-conventional sintering technique spark plasma sintering (SPS), which reduces the temperature and sintering times since it simultaneously uses a uniaxial pressing and an electric current to produce sintering by means of the Joule effect. Sintering improves as the temperature increases from 1500 to 1700 ºC. A large increase in thermal conductivity from 1.4 to 1.7 wm-1K-1 is observed in the composite materials obtained. These materials show good mechanical strength with microhardness and elastic modulus values of 10.2 GPa and 82.1 GPa, respectively, and an extraordinary resistance to oxidation. All these results indicate that these materials are excellent candidates for high temperature structural and functional applications such as solar receiver collectors and propulsion systems.