Tribological Behavior of Additively Manufactured Dual‐Material Polymer Composites

Abstract

This study presents a novel material design approach for wear‐resistant sandwich‐structured hybrid composites fabricated using dual‐nozzle fused deposition modeling (FDM). By co‐printing commercially available mono‐filaments, this approach prevents the compounding difficulties and enables the strategic placement of nanoparticles and micro‐fibers layers. Two hybrid architectures were produced by combining a nano‐copper polylactic acid (nano‐Cu PLA) phase with either a carbon flake (CF PLA) or short carbon fiber (SCF PLA) reinforced phase. The additive manufacturing process was optimized for flexural performance, followed by systematic tribological evaluation using pin‐on‐disc dry sliding tests under different normal pressures and sliding velocities. Micro‐Computed Tomography revealed an interconnected carbon‐filler network with a dispersed nanoparticle phase and a transition band that enhances mechanical interlocking. The hybrid composite filled with copper nanoparticles and SCF achieved a flexural strength of 97.30 MPa, outperforming its base components. At a contact pressure of 1 MPa and a sliding velocity of 0.2 m/s, the specific wear rate decreased to 3.4 × 10 −7  mm 3 /Nm. Microscopic analysis suggests that copper nanoparticles released at the interface act as rolling agents for exposed fiber tips, and change the contact mode, leading to synergistic wear reduction. These findings provide insights for designing high‐performance tribological components via additive manufacturing.