ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED AUTOCLAVE TOOL

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites have been used in,Big Area ditive Manufacturing (BAAM) to decrease the distortion during the printing process and increase functional stiffness. These materials are also important additiVely manufactured,autoclave.tooling which expands when exposed to the high temperatures. of the operational cycle, causing the dirnensicinSiof the mold to differ frbaf the targeted design. Since the reinfOrcing fibers generally align during the extrusion proteSs, the thermal expansion of the composite along the deposition dir'ection is restrained; by fibers, whereas. the thermal expansion. perpendicular to the bead is largely unconstrained..This an anisotropic expansion of the: material that. is dependent.uponAhe local deposition` path, which may:be tortuous 'and complex: To obtain an atcueete!-finalYperfiggo-rnefrji" during.the autoclave process, a Computational prediction of the of tool' is required to account for the complex extrusion deposition directiobs. A'multistep approach is presented that accounts for (1) anisotropictherrhal expansion,ofthe extruded bead, (2) the complex deposition;,directions,: and..(3) internal,geometry, determined,. by slicing software. The thermal expansion. coefficient in the;deposition direction.,an perpendicular to the deposition direction.were measured the test specimen. A revised model geometry "was generated to achieveAhe target dimensions' when accounting for therrhal expansion.