Expanding the applications for 3D parts produced by the material extrusion additive manufacturing process, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), requires the improvement of the mechanical performance of the finished parts. As such, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a reinforcement method for FDM-fabricated parts via a thermal embedding process of metal meshes making metal-polymer composite structures. In this work, the processing parameters and the improvements on mechanical properties are reported to substantiate that FDM-fabricated parts can perform equal or better than their injection molded counterparts. ABS test specimens were fabricated in the XYZ orientation using a FDM Titan machine. Subsequently, wire meshes were embedded on both sides of the specimens by using ultrasonic energy. When compared to non-reinforced specimens, tensile testing of the reinforced parts revealed up to a 129% increase in yield strength and the endurance limit over one million cycles increased from 4 MPa to 8 MPa. The reinforcement method for FDM-fabricated parts presented here can be used to increase mechanical properties and expand the applications of AM parts to a wide variety of aerospace applications.
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