Continuous fiber 3D printing (CF3D for short) enables additive manufacturing using composite materials to achieve new designs, while surpassing the material requirements of generator components
Disruptive composite material additive manufacturer Continuous Composites and Siemens Energy demonstrated the successful application of continuous fiber 3D printing (CF3D) technology in Siemens Energy's generator components. After years of cooperation, the two companies have developed a thermosetting glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) material that can provide better mechanical properties at higher temperatures. This material adopts topology optimization design. For customized applications, dynamic fiber orientation enables anisotropic fibers to be oriented along the load direction.
Continuous Composites and its material partner Arkema, through its Sartomer business, jointly developed a high-temperature resistant CF3D thermosetting polymer, which enables the 3D printing of large and complex parts that cannot be manufactured using traditional composite technology. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of this material reaches 227°C, and the strength loss is minimal at temperatures higher than Tg. The CF3D printed composite material has a fiber volume content (FVF) of more than 50% and a porosity of less than 1.5%.
Currently, many generator parts are produced using metal casting processes, which are expensive and time-consuming. These new materials developed to support the CF3D process exceed the temperature requirements of generators and other Siemens energy applications. The result of this demonstration in the energy sector is: production costs have been reduced by 5 times, and delivery time has been shortened from 8 to 10 months to 3 weeks. In addition, the energy-saving benefits brought by the long-term downtime reached US$1 million, which greatly reduced the quality of parts and reduced material waste at the same time.
"CF3D's superior mechanical properties, combined with cost reduction and delivery time shortened, made us choose this company. With the help of additive manufacturing for composite materials, the opportunity to replace metal manufacturing generator parts is to solve our problem in energy The constraints faced by the industry have brought a powerful breakthrough, and CF3D technology makes this possible."
Continuous Composites staff said: "The deployment of CF3D for the manufacture of generator components is an example of our technology being disrupting the current production process and replacing metal manufacturing components with high-performance composite materials."
Continuous Composites personnel said, "Our cooperation with Siemens Energy has proven our ability to develop and customize material solutions that far exceed the requirements of the energy sector and meet strict mechanical performance requirements."