Concurrent optimization of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites with multi-scale components considering the manufacturing constraint

This paper proposed a multi-scale components topology optimization method and a continuous printing paths planning strategy to satisfy the manufacturing constraint of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites. The optimal design was performed with a cantilever beam to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The optimization result obtained by the proposed optimization method showed that the fiber orientation was consistent within each component, facilitating the subsequent manufacturing process. For comparative analysis, the optimal structures were also obtained by density-based topology optimization methods with traditional printing path strategies. The results of the comparison experiment showed that, compared with the specimens optimized by the solid orthotropic material with penalization (SOMP) method with off-set paths and the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method with zig-zag paths, the stiffness of the optimal specimens obtained by proposed multi-scale components optimization method with continuous printing paths was increased by 26.39% and 64.67%, respectively, and the peak load was increased by 50.45% and 37.53%, respectively. In addition, the proposed continuous printing paths planning strategy significantly reduced the defects during the manufacturing process to enhance the mechanical properties of the fabricated structures.