Highly aligned fiber nozzle for additive manufacturing applications

An additive manufacturing system for a bead comprising an additive manufacturing material and embedded short-chopped fibers, comprising:

• an extruder comprising a nozzle having a nozzle flow channel defined by a channel wall, the nozzle flow channel having a longitudinal center axis, a diameter DFC, and a length LFC, an input end and an opposing output end, the nozzle flow channel being fluidly coupled at the input end to feeding means through which additive manufacturing material and short-chopped fibers are to be provided to the extruder, the nozzle comprising a plurality of spaced apart elongated aligning structures distributed inside the nozzle flow channel and parallel to the longitudinal center axis, the aligning structures having a length LAS, a width WAS and a thickness TAS, and defining alignment flow channels within the nozzle flow channel, where the bead has a skin thickness TSK, and the alignment flow channels have a lateral dimension of from 0.1 to 2.5 TSK;
• wherein the nozzle is configured to guide a bead of the additive manufacturing material and short-chopped fibers from the input end to the output end of the nozzle flow channel through the alignment flow channels, to align the orientations of the short-chopped fiber with the longitudinal axis center axis of the channel and create an aligned bead, and extrude the aligned bead through the output end, causing the aligned bead to be deposited as part of a layer of an object being formed by the additive manufacturing system.