Engineering mechanical and thermomechanical performance in additive manufacturing–Compression molded composites through multiplexed extrusion

Wasti, Sanjita [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0009000366227136); Talabi, Segun Isaac [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000340215594); Hubbard, Amber M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)]; Chawla, Komal [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000190327565); Owusu, Adwoa [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000241532180); Mungale, Chinmay [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:000900045130209X); Vaidya, Uday [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Knoxville, TN (United States)]; Hassen, Ahmed Arabi [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000328521222); Ozcan, Soydan [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000238254589); Tekinalp, Halil [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)]; Kumar, Vipin [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000295807098)

doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2026.113799

DOE OSTI · 3365766

Engineering mechanical and thermomechanical performance in additive manufacturing–Compression molded composites through multiplexed extrusion

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Abstract

Traditional extrusion-based additive manufacturing is limited to single material systems, restricting the multifunctional properties of composites. For this work to overcome this limitation, multiplexed additive manufacturing–compression molding (AM-CM) was employed to fabricate multi-material thermoplastic composites with spatially tailored architectures. Neat acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and 20 wt% carbon-fiber reinforced ABS (CF-ABS) were co-extruded through a core–sheath nozzle to produce hybrid composites with neat ABS as sheath (30-50 wt%) and CF-ABS as core (50 – 70 wt%). The results show that the hybrid composites have balance of mechanical and thermomechanical performance. The tensile strength and modulus of hybrid composites exhibited a 61–95% and 173–473% increase compared to neat ABS with increases in CF-ABS content whereas the impact resistance improved by 41% compared to CF-ABS at 50 wt% ABS. Additionally, hybrid composites showed significant reduction (54 - 70%) in creep strain at 100 °C compared to neat ABS. These findings demonstrate that multiplexed AM-CM enables tunable structure–property relationships, reducing CF-ABS usage up to 50 wt% while maintaining balanced stiffness, toughness, and creep resistance.

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Additive manufacturing Compression molding Hybrid materials Multi-material printing Multiplexing

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Wasti, Sanjita [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0009000366227136), Talabi, Segun Isaac [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000340215594), Hubbard, Amber M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)], Chawla, Komal [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000190327565), Owusu, Adwoa [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000241532180), Mungale, Chinmay [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:000900045130209X), Vaidya, Uday [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Knoxville, TN (United States)], Hassen, Ahmed Arabi [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000328521222), Ozcan, Soydan [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000238254589), Tekinalp, Halil [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)], Kumar, Vipin [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000295807098). 2026-05-14. Engineering mechanical and thermomechanical performance in additive manufacturing–Compression molded composites through multiplexed extrusion. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2026.113799

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