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Abstract This study uses the Taguchi optimization methodology to optimize the fatigue performance of short carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide samples printed via fused deposition modeling (FDM). The optimal printing properties that maximize the fatigue limit were determined to be 0.075 mm layer thickness, 0.4 mm infill line distance, 50 mm/s printing speed, and 55 °C chamber temperature with layer thickness being the most critical parameter. To qualify fatigue endurance limit, the energy dissipation in uniaxial fatigue was quantified by using hysteresis energy and temperature rise at steady state. From these results, the fatigue limit for a specimen printed with optimized printing parameters was predicted to be 69 and 70 MPa from hysteresis energy and temperature rise at steady state methods, consecutively, and it was experimentally determined to be 67 MPa. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of the Taguchi optimization method when applied to additive manufacturing and the swift ability to predict the fatigue limit of a material with only one specimen to produce optimal additively manufactured components for industrial applications, as validated by experimental fatigue testing. 

A sensor for visualizing the fatigue load cycles was designed, fabricated, and tested. The sensor is made of a glass/carbon hybrid composite and utilizes the delamination length at the glass/carbon interface as an indicator for fatigue cycles. Appropriate design parameters were obtained by performing finite element analysis on the delamination development at the interface between the glass and carbon layers. Hybrid sensors with different carbon layer thicknesses were manufactured, attached to glass/epoxy substrates, and tested under fatigue loading. The predicted results based on the Paris law for crack extensions in one configuration are compared with the experiments for a different configuration to illustrate the efficacy of the approach.