Material extrusion additive manufacturing of continuous fibre reinforced polymer matrix composites: A review and outlook

In recent years, three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology has developed to include composite materials. Most of the development to date in this area has involved particulate or short fibre reinforced composites, whilst continuous fibre printing remains a relatively novel research area. This review paper focuses on the state-of-the-art of continuous fibre reinforced 3DP technology (CF-3DP). The materials and devices being used in the current studies are reviewed, and the different processing methods are discussed in detail. A thorough summary of the mechanical properties is provided. Despite improvements compared to 3D printed pure plastics, the performance of current continuous fibre 3D printed composites are not yet in a position to compete with conventionally processed composites due to defects and low fibre volume fraction. Finally, an overview of current potential applications are presented. However, challenges still remain in materials and process development. New design, modelling and analysis methods are needed before these novel composite structures can find their optimal applications.