SELECTIVE REINFORCEMENT OF PHOTORESINS WITH CONTINUOUS FIBERS USING 3-D COMPOSITE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY

This paper describes the selective reinforcement of photoresins with c ontinuous glass fibers using a novel three-dimensional photolithograph y process. The processing was conducted in an automated desktop photol ithography unit (ADPU) developed and built in-house. Continuous fibers were added in situ to the photoresin to obtain composite samples cont aining approximately 5 vol% fibers. The tensile strength and modulus o f these composites improved by at least a factor of two as compared to those of the pure photoresins. Also, fibers were added selectively in a curvilinear path to build reinforced plates with a central hole. Th ese results indicate the potential of this technique to directly produ ce functional composite components in conjunction with a 3-D photolith ography apparatus.