Structure and Properties of Additive Manufactured Polymer Components

Structure and Properties of Additive Manufactured Polymer Components provides a state-of-the-art review from leading experts in the field who discuss key developments that have appeared over the last decade or so regarding the use of additive manufacturing (AM) methods in the production of neat and reinforced polymeric components. A major focus is given to materials science aspects, i.e., how the quality of the polymer preforms, the parameters of the chosen AM method, and how these factors can affect the microstructure and properties of the final product.

The book not only covers production technologies and the relationship between processing, microstructure and fundamental properties of the produced parts, but also gives readers ideas on the use of AM polymer parts in medicine, automotive, aerospace, tribology, electronics, and more.

• Focuses on industrial aspects and applications
• Dedicated purely to recent advances in polymer composite additive manufacturing
• Emphasizes processing, structure and property relationships

Klaus Friedrich is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Composite Materials (IVW GmbH), Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. He is an editorial board member of several key journals in the area, including Composites Science and Technology, Tribology International, and J. Material Science. He also contributes to international committees and conferences related to composite materials and has received numerous awards and honors throughout his prolific research career.

Rolf Walter graduated from the Department of Materials Science (1983) and from the Department of Electrical Engineering (1980) of the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Germany. He worked as a Research Engineer from 1983 to 1990 in the Polymer Composites Group of the Technical University of Hamburg, Prof. J. Petermann and Prof. K. Friedrich. In 1990 he became member of the materials science research staff of the Institute of Composite Materials (IVW GmbH) at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, under the guidance of Prof. K. Friedrich and Prof. M. Neitzel, and later of Prof. U. Breuer. His scientific and working experience includes (a) the creation of newly developed high performance thermoplastic compounds by twin screw extrusion and further processing by injection molding, (b) the investigation of materials behavior under fatigue, impact and wear loading, (c) the determination of failure mechanisms by microscopic and analytical methods, and (d) the internal coordination and design of self-built testing machines. Rolf Walter has published several papers in national and international journals and conference proceedings. His present position is the head of the thermoplastic processing and additive manufacturing group of IVW’s materials science division.