Bending properties and numerical modelling of cellular panels manufactured from wood fibre/PLA biocomposite by 3D printing

Abstract

The major advantage of cellular structures is the saving of material, energy, cost, and weight. Biocomposites are strong, lightweight materials and offer a high degree of design freedom. The purpose of this study was to characterise and compare the bending properties of various cellular structures for utilisation in panels made of a wood fibre/PLA biocomposite. Material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing is a highly flexible manufacturing method and well-suited for prototyping. Hence, MEX was applied to manufacture five different cell configurations that were mechanically tested. Additionally, numerical simulations were carried out to present a tool for optimising the structures for future requirements. Two material modelling approaches, a hyperelastic and a linear elastic, bimodular model were created and validated based on 3-point-bending tests. It is shown that a linear elastic, bimodular and perfectly plastic material model can adequately capture the elastic/plastic bending behaviour of the corresponding 3D-printed sandwich panels.