SBIR Phase II: High Efficiency Robocasting for Ceramic Product Application

SBIR 第二阶段：陶瓷产品应用的高效 Robocasting

• 批准号: 1535588
• 负责人: Joseph Cesarano
• 金额: $ 62.53万
• 依托单位: Robocasting Enterprises LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-10-01 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1535588&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Efficiency; Robocasting

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in the creation of commercial viability for 3-D printing unique ceramic structures by transforming 3-D printing of advanced ceramics into mass-production additive manufacturing. This will be a new capability for the US. The 3-D structures being considered can't be easily made with traditional manufacturing techniques but have significant advantages over traditionally manufactured geometries. If 3-D printed structures could be manufactured economically, the societal impact could be tremendous ranging from creation of hundreds of US manufacturing jobs to reduction in CO2 emissions. Commercially viable products that can improve existing markets and enable new markets are realistic expectations. Structures for improved filtration, catalytic production of clean fuels, H2 reformers, emission controls for stationary fuel cells, and CO2 sequestration have been inspired by Other Equipment Manufacturers and are already being jointly developed as a result of Phase I progress. Interestingly, these products and more could be produced from the same product lines just by changing a computer program. This great efficiency of infrastructure is a fortunate trait of additive manufacturing. In short, this project will position Robocasting Enterprises as a US exporter into world-wide markets for economic and societal benefit.This project is based on foundational technology called robocasting for 3-D printing ceramic materials. Robocasting is an additive technique demonstrated to be useful for rapid fabrication of ceramics into advanced lattice structures for enhanced filtration and catalytic performance. However, robocast products have been largely limited to products with dimensions less than 2 inches because of problems related to cracking. The goal of this project is to make additive manufacturing much more commercially viable for ceramics by: (a) overcoming the technical challenges for robocasting large ceramic parts and; (b) designing and implementing a scaled-up manufacturing line commercially competitive with traditional manufacturing processes and production from low-wage countries. To achieve these goals; materials, processes, and equipment improvements are required. Developments will include: 1) material innovations to reduce cracking in large ceramic bodies; 2) processing innovations to reduce cracking in large ceramic bodies; 3) equipment and automation innovations to increase production rates. At the end of Phase II it is anticipated that rapid manufacturing of large (i.e., 5-10 inch) advanced ceramic lattice structures will be demonstrated to be commercially viable and penetration into several markets will be significant. The technology will be perfectly poised for investment from larger companies and Phase III growth.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过将先进陶瓷的3D打印转化为大规模生产的增材制造，为3D打印独特的陶瓷结构创造商业可行性。 这将是美国的新能力。正在考虑的三维结构不能很容易地用传统的制造技术，但有显着的优势，传统制造的几何形状。如果3D打印结构可以经济地制造，社会影响可能是巨大的，从创造数百个美国制造业工作岗位到减少二氧化碳排放。能够改善现有市场并开拓新市场的商业上可行的产品是现实的期望。用于改进过滤、清洁燃料的催化生产、H2重整器、固定式燃料电池的排放控制和CO2封存的结构受到其他设备制造商的启发，并且作为第一阶段进展的结果，已经在联合开发中。有趣的是，这些产品和更多的产品可以通过改变计算机程序从相同的生产线生产。基础设施的这种高效率是增材制造的一个幸运特征。简而言之，该项目将使Robocasting Enterprises成为美国出口商，进入全球市场，以实现经济和社会效益。该项目基于3D打印陶瓷材料的基础技术Robocasting。 自动铸造是一种添加剂技术，被证明可用于将陶瓷快速制造成先进的晶格结构，以增强过滤和催化性能。 然而，由于与开裂有关的问题，自动浇铸产品在很大程度上限于尺寸小于2英寸的产品。该项目的目标是通过以下方式使陶瓷增材制造更具商业可行性：（a）克服机器人铸造大型陶瓷部件的技术挑战;（B）设计和实施一条在商业上与传统制造工艺和低工资国家的生产竞争的扩大生产线。为了实现这些目标，需要改进材料、工艺和设备。 发展将包括：1）减少大型陶瓷体开裂的材料创新; 2）减少大型陶瓷体开裂的工艺创新; 3）提高生产率的设备和自动化创新。在第二阶段结束时，预计大型（即，5-10英寸）的先进陶瓷晶格结构将被证明是商业上可行的，并渗透到几个市场将是显着的。 该技术将完全准备好接受大公司的投资和第三阶段的增长。