Abstract
Development of fiber-reinforced composites for additive manufacturing has been driven by efforts to meet or exceed the performance of traditionally processed metal alloys. Additive Manufacturing (AM) with carbon fiber (CF) filaments can leverage the anisotropic nature of composites to increase the strength of components without adding weight or bulk. One area of application is around fastener holes. Bolted joints typically constitute the weakest part of a composite component. In this investigation, we aim to determine if they may be strengthened by controlling the orientation of fibers around the hole. To this end, we compare bolt bearing testing results using NylonXTM material printed with two different bolted joint types: “printed-in”, allowing for fiber orientation circumferentially around the hole, and “drilled-in”. Differences in mechanical properties were found to be an increase of 31% in bearing stress and 86% bearing strain at failure