I-Corps: Method for Forming Interlaced Composites During Automated Fiber Placement

I-Corps项目旨在确定自动化复合材料制造技术的商业潜力。I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，它为复合材料提供了新的设计选择，影响了广泛的行业。该团队的技术是一种自动成形复合材料的方法，旨在提高复合材料制造领域的能力。这项技术使设计师能够创造出目前尚未合成或制造的新结构。飞机和汽车工业是使用复合材料来减轻重量的典型行业。通过该项目的技术，复合材料设计师将能够实现比使用传统设计和制造的复合材料更大的重量减轻。这些重量的减少将使设计人员能够满足燃油效率标准，增加有效载荷能力，并扩大车辆或飞机的范围。使用传统自动化工艺形成的复合材料仅限于使用单向胶带（窄的编织织物材料）的二维层压板结构。以这种方式形成的复合材料很容易受到冲击损伤，严重限制了设计师的选择。该项目的技术允许在复合材料中局部操纵织物几何形状，从而使设计师能够优化复合材料结构的强度和刚度。此外，该技术允许复合材料中相邻层相互交错，从而增强了复合材料的抗冲击性。参与I-Corps将使所提议的技术能够评估其商业价值，并能够制定商业化战略。

This I-Corps project seeks to identify the commercial potential of an automated composite manufacturing technology. The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is that it enables new design options for composites -- impacting a wide range of industries. This team's technology is an automated method of forming composites that seeks to improve capabilities in the area of composite manufacturing. The technology allows designers to create new structures that are not currently synthesized or manufactured. Aircraft and automobile industries are typical sectors where composites are used to reduce weight. Through this project's technology, composite designers will be able to realize greater weight savings than they have using traditionally designed and manufactured composites. These weight savings will allow designers to meet fuel efficiency standards, increase payload capacity, and extend the range of vehicles or airplanes.Composites formed using traditional automated processes are constrained to 2D laminate structures using unidirectional tapes (narrow, woven fabric materials). Composites formed this way are vulnerable to impact damage and severely limit the options available to the designer. This project's technology permits the local manipulation of fabric geometry in a composite, which allows designers to optimize the strength and stiffness of the composite structure. Additionally, this technology allows interlacing of adjacent layers in the composite, which enhances the impact resistance of the composite. Participation in I-Corps will allow the proposed technology to be evaluated for commercial merit and enable the development of a commercialization strategy.