Parameter Optimization for Preparing Carbon Fiber / Epoxy Composites by Selective Laser Sintering

Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced thermosetting resin composites offer a wide range of high performance features including excellent strength, modulus and thermal resistance and light weight. Consequently, they are increasingly demanded by aerospace and automotive industries due to the tighter requirements of the transport vehicles for lightweight as well as higher payloads. Although thermoplastics and their composites have been widely used in additive manufacturing (AM), to date it is difficult to manufacture carbon fibers reinforced thermosetting composite parts via AM technologies. Therefore, this study developed a novel method based on selective laser sintering (SLS) to fabricate high-performance carbon fiber/epoxy resin composites. The response surface method was employed to study the processing parameters affecting the quality of final parts, and an optimized processing condition was obtained.