Creep Deformation Measurement of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Materials for Industrial Robot Applications

Replacing the metal structural parts with plas- tic structural parts will directly reduce energy consumption, thanks to their lightweight. However, plastic materials are prone to creep deformation at room temperature, potentially leading to decreased end-effector positioning accuracy during prolonged use. Previous measurements of creep deformation in lightweight plastics revealed significant deformation in 3D- printed parts, likely due to low infill rates and suboptimal reinforcement fiber placement. This paper presents the results of creep deformation measurements on test specimens with improved structural designs, including modified infill rates and fiber placements. The experimental results show that continuous carbon fiber placement along the outer wall direction yielded the least creep deformation. Additionally, variations in infill rates had minimal impact on creep deformation.