SBIR Phase I: A novel non-textile fabric and assembly method

SBIR 第一阶段：一种新型非纺织面料及其组装方法

• 批准号: 1314207
• 负责人: Gregory O'Connor
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Amalgam Industries, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1314207&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; novel; non; textile

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to industrialize a radically new laminar material to demonstrate the value of non-textile but flexible fabric for a variety of different commercial applications. This new material has no fibers and requires no weaving or knitting. Instead, it uses hard and rigid ?elements? - digitally precise shapes of polymers, ceramics or metals - that are simultaneously formed and hinged together in a rapid process called ?Direct Forming,? - a close relative of 3-D printing. Thus, even though the individual elements are hard and tough, and therefore extremely durable, the way these elements are hinged together creates flexibility that allows the new material to conform to rounded or irregularly shaped surfaces like leathers and textiles do. Once this research establishes the optimum hinge configurations, the Grantee intends to be the first in the marketplace with this technology, concentrating on the technical textiles segment for applications where standard textiles, such as ballistic nylon, canvas, or woven fibers cannot meet requirements. This Phase I project is to conduct the engineering and testing of the exact hinging structures that will allow the new material to exceed tensile and impact strength standards for specific target markets, such as commercial seating.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes the initially targeted $180 million annual commercial seating textile market. Transportation, consumer products, architecture and civil engineering uses are some of the over 400 applications in over 16 industry sectors also identified. But even more important is the manufacturing process referred to as ?Direct Forming.? When fully industrialized, it will localize the production of high performance, robust technical textiles, stemming the trend of offshoring upholstery textile production. This will allow the U.S. to recapture the production of complete parts now lost to overseas cut and sew operations. The direct forming process will severely undercut the true costs of offshoring mass-produced items, and its attendant material waste and extensive use of hydrocarbon fuel associated with international shipping and warehousing. Direct forming will bring about a different industrial model, ?mass customization,? that along with 3-D printing will revolutionize the way thousands of parts and materials will be manufactured in the very near future. Computers will form textiles and other products exactly to manufacturer specifications in a single ?additive? process, rather than manufacturing pieces from a larger bolt or hunk of polymer or metal in more wasteful ?subtractive? processes.

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目寻求将一种全新的层状材料工业化，以展示非纺织品但可弯曲的织物在各种不同商业应用中的价值。这种新材料不含纤维，不需要织造或编织。取而代之的是，它使用坚硬和坚硬的元素--聚合物、陶瓷或金属的数字精确形状--同时成型并在一种称为直接成型的快速过程中铰接在一起，直接成型是3D打印的近亲。因此，尽管单个部件坚硬坚韧，因此非常耐用，但这些部件连接在一起的方式创造了灵活性，使新材料能够符合皮革和纺织品等圆形或不规则形状的表面。一旦这项研究确定了最佳铰链配置，Grantee打算成为这项技术在市场上的第一家公司，专注于防弹尼龙、帆布或机织纤维等标准纺织品无法满足要求的应用的技术纺织品领域。这个第一阶段的项目是对精确的铰链结构进行设计和测试，以使新材料超过特定目标市场的拉伸和冲击强度标准，例如商业座椅。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力包括最初目标为每年1.8亿美元的商业座椅纺织品市场。交通、消费品、建筑和土木工程用途也是16个行业部门确定的400多个应用中的一部分。但更重要的是被称为直接成形的制造工艺。当完全工业化后，它将本地化生产高性能、坚固的技术纺织品，阻止离岸室内装潢纺织品生产的趋势。这将使美国能够重新获得目前在海外裁剪和缝纫业务中失去的完整零部件的生产。直接成型过程将严重降低将大量生产的物品外包到海外的真实成本，以及随之而来的材料浪费和与国际运输和仓储相关的碳氢燃料的广泛使用。直接成型将带来一种不同的工业模式，大规模定制，？这与3D打印一起，将在不久的将来彻底改变数以千计的零部件和材料的制造方式。计算机将完全按照制造商的规格在单一添加剂中形成纺织品和其他产品。工艺，而不是用更大的螺栓或大块聚合物或金属制造零件，更浪费？减法？流程。