Citation: Shafighfard, T.; Mieloszyk,
M. Model of the Temperature
Influence on Additively
Manufactured Carbon Fibre
Reinforced Polymer Samples with
Embedded Fibre Bragg Grating
Sensors. Materials 2022, 15, 222.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ma
15010222
Academic Editor: Agnieszka
Jastrz˛ebska
Received: 10 November 2021
Accepted: 24 December 2021
Published: 28 December 2021
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Article
Model of the Temperature Influence on Additively
Manufactured Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer
Samples with Embedded Fibre Bragg Grating Sensors
Torkan Shafighfard and Magdalena Mieloszyk *
Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences, Fiszera 14, 80-231 Gdansk, Poland;
tshafighfard@imp.gda.pl
* Correspondence: mmieloszyk@imp.gda.pl
Abstract:
This study investigates the thermo-mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) with embedded Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors with
respect to their feasibility for utilising them under thermal loading. This was conducted through
the Finite Element Method (FEM) inside an ABAQUS environment. Numerical simulation was
complemented by several experimental investigations in order to verify the computational results
achieved for the specimens exposed to thermal loading. FBG sensors, incorporated into the material
by embedding technique, were employed to measure the strains of the samples subjected to elevated
temperatures. It was shown that the strains given by numerical simulation were in good agreement
with the experimental investigation except for a few errors due to the defects created within the layers
during Additive Manufacturing (AM) process. It was concluded that the embedding FBG sensors
were capable of identifying thermo-mechanical strain accurately for 3D-printed composite structures.
Therefore, the findings of this article could be further developed for other types of material and
loading conditions.
Keywords:
Additive Manufacturing; composite; temperature; fused deposition modelling; Finite
Element Method; Fibre Bragg Grating
1. Introduction
Additive Manufacturing (AM), so-called 3D printing, is a layer by-layer fabrication
process in which successive layers of the material are deposited above each other taking
advantage of a computer aided design to form the final product [
1
]. Thanks to the recent
development in technology and the current trend toward a sustainable environment [
2
], it
has been widely utilised in various industrial applications such as aeronautical, automotive,
dental, architectural, and medical sectors for fabrication of various prototypes, particu-
larly with complex geometries since it provides superior design flexibility compared to
conventional manufacturing methods [
3
]. Therefore, it is believed that the AM will be the
third industrial revolution, complementing the production line assembly that dominated
manufacturing starting in the previous century [4].
Technology development was not limited to the manufacturing processes. Correlating
with the fabrication techniques, the desire toward making the materials more efficient, e.g.,
smart materials have been among the significant goals of science and industry. Therefore,
demand for composite materials has notably been increased during the past decade due
to their high stiffness-weight ratio [
5
], as well as corrosion resistance, decorativeness, and
thermal stability. On the other hand, the intrinsic sensing capabilities they own make them
suitable for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in aerospace and mechanical engineering
applications [6].
Meanwhile, since composite materials are subjected to different mechanical and/or
thermal loading, which decreases the structural performance, it has been essential to
develop a reliable and precise real-time monitoring method in order to obtain information
Materials 2022, 15, 222. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010222 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
