The 3rd SAMPE CFRTP Additive Manufacturing International Student Contest was recently held as part of the 6th International Conference on Thermoplastic Composites in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
A team from the School of System Design and Intelligent Manufacturing (SDIM) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), including Ph.D. students Huilin REN and Ke DONG, master’s students Hubocheng TANG and Xinmeng ZHA, and their mentor, Assistant Professor Yi XIONG, took home the second prize in the continuous fiber category.
As one of the largest and most influential competitions in the field of thermoplastic composites, the event attracted more than 30 teams from top universities and institutions.
The SUSTech team impressed judges with an innovative approach, combining a lightweight lattice design with a biomimetic self-supporting suspension printing technique to create a two-and-a-half dimensional (2.5D) hybrid composite lattice structure. By cleverly utilizing fiber composites through structural design, they achieved significant enhancements in compression, bending, and other properties.
The judges assessed each entry based on design strategy, appearance, dimensions, weight, and load-bearing capacity. SUSTech’s design stood out in its lightweight structure and optimized processes, highlighting potential applications for composite additive manufacturing and offering fresh insights into the field’s future development.
This work builds on the team’s prior scientific research in additive manufacturing and continuous fiber composites, which has been published in journals such as Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering and Composites Science and Technology.
The competition, held alongside the International Conference on Thermoplastic Composites, aims to broaden knowledge of material selection, structural design, and production processes in fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite additive manufacturing. It also provides an international platform for students and young engineers to showcase their expertise in design, optimization, analysis, modeling, and 3D printing technology.
