Improvement of mechanical reinforcement of 3D printed parts is one of the current challenges in additive manufacturing to transition from prototypes to functional parts that meet similar requirements as for example injection molded parts do. A smartly designed part with embedded continuous fibers can improve mechanical strength where needed. The embedding of for example continuous carbon fibers makes it possible to monitor how the structural integrity of a product - e.g. its deformation - changes over time by measuring the changes in the electrical resistance through the fibers in the composite part. Current sensing technologies that measure structural health are two dimensional and are only installed, in a second stage, on the outer surface of parts. Additive manufacturing enables the incorporation of sensing functionality directly inside complex 3D shapes. In this way, delaminations, internal deformations and temperature profiles can be more accurately determined at positions in the part where that was not possible before. An update will be presented of our technical progress in a.o. our 100% Limburg Bike project that aims at making a customizable race bike.

Brightlands Materials Center is an international R&D center in the field of polymeric materials with the aim to develop innovative and sustainable materials solutions meeting tomorrow's societal challenges. Its three major R&D programs are driven by application challenges and focus on Lightweight Automotive, Sustainable Buildings and Additive Manufacturing. Brightlands Materials Center is an initiative of the Province of Limburg and TNO, the Netherlands Organization for applied scientific research (www.tno.nl), and is located at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, The Netherlands.