Jon Aurrekoetxea
Additive manufacturing is challenging for developing new structural composite concepts. The reinforcement portfolio for AM goes from nanoparticles to continuous fibres, covering technical fibres such as carbon or Kevlar fibres or natural fibres like flax fibres or wood flour. The matrix universe is also broad, composed of biobased plastics, high-temperature resins, or elastomers. Additionally, the layer-by-layer nature of AM, combined with the possibility of using several printing heads, allows getting complex lattice structures, functionally graded structures, or non-conventional fibre orientations. When combined with advanced design and engineering approaches, we can develop singular products only feasible by AM. AM can be competitive for highly customised products but not for large series. However, the hybridisation of AM and conventional composite manufacturing technologies can overcome these issues. The presentation explores new integrally 3D printing sandwich panels and hybridisation concepts.