2026/03/04
Thermal expansion behaviour of short-fibre-reinforced 3D-printed composites: A numerical and experimental study
Zhou, Y.; Tikhani, F.; Hubert, P. (2026). Thermal expansion behaviour of short-fibre-reinforced 3D-printed composites: A numerical and experimental study. Composite Structures, vol. 383, 2026, 120130.
The thermal expansion behaviour of short-fibre-reinforced 3D-printed (SFR 3DP) composites has been studied primarily through analytical models focusing on the longitudinal direction, whereas the transverse behaviour has received limited attention. In addition, full-field finite element (FE) modelling of thermal expansion in SFR 3DP composites remains relatively uncommon. In this study, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of SFR 3DP composites, specifically polycarbonate with various levels of glass fibre reinforcement, is predicted using five analytical models (Turner, Kerner, Schapery, No-Interaction (NI), and Mori–Tanaka (MT)) alongside full-field FE models, and the results are compared with thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA) data in both longitudinal and transverse directions. In the longitudinal direction, the Schapery model is most accurate at low fibre contents, the MT model at higher contents, while the FE model remains highly accurate across the entire range. In the transverse direction, the MT model provides virtually identical accuracy to the FE model at every fibre content. Overall, the analytical approaches can match the predictive power of full-field FE modelling for CTE of SFR 3DP composites. Longitudinally, the FE method remains the more general tool, whereas the accuracy of analytical models is more sensitive to fibre content. Transversely, both approaches perform equally well.