Additive technology has evolved from rapid prototyping to rapid tooling and manufacturing of load-bearing parts for productive use. Application potential is limited by constituent strengths and weaknesses. To enfold its full potential, research, development, and industrial application have to facilitate combinations of additive and conventional technology. The concept of additive parts manufacturing has to be expanded to a mature technology contributing and facilitating hybrid products and integrated process chains. From a two-dimensional reference model, approaches to integration are derived, and their status is briefly outlined: Efforts to facilitate postprocessing by design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) and hybrid manufacturing have been raised to awareness and are being worked on. Yet, integration of pre-fabricated structures is hardly accounted for, although it bears the potential for a paradigmatic shift in manufacturing: With a wider concept of layer-based processes, Additive Technology could form the core technology for integration of components and functions to Integrated Devices, following the model of the Integrated Circuits and packaging technology in microelectronics and Microelectromechanical Systems. First developments are outlined, but research and development effort has to be dedicated to novel additive processes for this application. Finally, workflows for product developers need to be modified and trained to plan hybrid product architectures already in conceptual phases.

First investigations focus on the usage, processing and material properties of polycarbonate (PC) based materials used in cable duct production. Test coupons were taken from in-situ cable ducts including further additives generally used in industry. Different mechanical and optical analytical methods were performed. Significant differences in tensile properties of polycarbonate/ acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) compared to mineral reinforced PC were observed. The hardness of mineral reinforced PC is significantly dependent on the geometry of the cable ducts. The fracture behavior and morphology of the PC/ABS fracture surface is directly related to the coupon temperature during Charpy impact testing. The process temperature influences the failure behavior during high impact processing such as high speed punching. Due to the lower impact strength of mineral reinforced PC less film and burr formation compared to PC/ABS are likely. However, the mineral distribution is not homogeneous and therefore subject to further investigation. This study aims at a better understanding of process properties of PC/ABS products, parameter selection, quality improvement and general understanding of underlying microstructural and surface properties.

No abstract

Previous tensile tests at 50, 100 and 400 mm/min using standard polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) material qualities have led to the suspicion that strain at break decreases with increasing test speed. Here, the plastic deformation component is regarded as the main burr cause. Thus, higher process speeds during punching would lead to less burr formation. This thesis was proven by high-speed tensile tests with a self-developed test rig operating at a test speed of 36.000 mm/min. Both, pure standard materials, provided by a polymer granules supplier, and customized materials were investigated. The customized materials contain unknown additives generally used in industry, e.g. fillers. All samples were taken laterally from in-situ cable ducts. The remaining plastic strain was introduced as material parameter to compare the results of high-speed and conventional tensile tests. The investigations show that the remaining plastic strain which is understood as the major burr cause decreases with increasing test speed. Furthermore, the mean values of the remaining plastic strain of the individual materials converge when exposed to higher test speeds. This leads to the thesis that one tool configuration can be used for different polycarbonate (PC) based materials presumed the process speed is adjusted correctly.

No abstract