Fatigue behavior and electromechanical properties of additively manufactured continuous wire polymer composites for structural health monitoring

The fatigue behaviour of continuous wire polymer composite (CWPC) fabricated by fused filament fabrication was investigated. Four compositions were examined: polylactic acid (PLA), PLA with copper wire (Cu), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and TPU with Cu wire. Residual properties were measured after different sets of number of cycles (102, 104, 105). CWPC electromechanical properties under fatigue test demonstrated reverse piezoresistivity behavior. A strain-controlled fatigue life analytical model was compared to the experimental results showing good agreement. This study demonstrates the applicability of FFF technique to print sensors with continuous integrated wire with tunable properties.