SBIR Phase II: An additive method for manufacturing customized textile products

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将展示一种大规模生产3D机织产品的添加剂制造工艺。目前，服装制造业仍然依赖于170多年前发明的手工缝纫机。这种系统限制了制造过程和纺织能力；大量的步骤导致浪费、低效和产品细分。此外，由于外国劳动力成本低，美国纺织业实际上已经停滞不前：2015年在美国销售的所有服装中有97.3%是进口的。该项目旨在开发一种制造机织纺织品的新方法，通过使用添加剂制造方法来实现生产过程的自动化，同时实现完全定制和按需生产。这项技术将使优质和有竞争力的纺织品制造业从海外回流，在美国创造高附加值的就业机会和设计师社区，同时还能创造税收。就像3D打印技术彻底改变了硬商品的制造过程一样，该项目寻求创建一个全新的附加制造纺织产品行业，为未来的创新创造巨大的机会。该项目开发了一种制造近净形状三维机织纺织品的新技术。为了开发这项技术，该项目首先证明了可行性，在第一阶段创造了具有3D地形的非标准形状的组成纺织板，为继续开发通过第二阶段现场生产的全三维、无缝、成品奠定了基础。通过增加从独特的3D模型生产服装，完全有可能大规模地为每个消费者定制服装，尽管这在以前从未实现过。此外，通过按需生产为个人消费者定制的服装，消除了大量库存积累的需要。这样，额外加工的纺织品既更受消费者欢迎，也更符合生产者的经济利益。因此，美国境内自动化和按需纺织制造的社会和环境效益是显著的，包括消除典型切割缝纫制造技术中的大量浪费，改造陷入困境的美国制造业，并将美国的经济、环境和地缘政治影响降至最低。目前对错综复杂的全球供应链的依赖。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will demonstrate an additive manufacturing process to produce 3-D woven textile products at scale. Presently, the clothing manufacturing industry still relies on manual sewing machines that were invented over one-hundred and seventy years ago. This system limits the manufacturing process and textile capability; an abundance of steps leads to waste, inefficiencies, and segmented products. Further, due to the low cost of foreign labor, the US textile industry has effectively come to a halt: 97.3 percent of all clothing sold in the United States in 2015 was imported. This project seeks to develop a novel method for manufacturing woven textile products by employing additive manufacturing methodologies to automate the production process, while simultaneously enabling complete customization and on-demand production. This technology will enable premium and competitive textile manufacturing to return from overseas, creating high value-added jobs and a designer community in the United States while also generating tax revenue. In the same way that 3-D printing technology has revolutionized the hard goods manufacturing process, this project seeks to create an entire new industry of additively manufactured textile products, enabling significant opportunities for future innovation.This project develops a novel technology to manufacture near-net-shape three dimensional woven textile products. To develop this technology, this project first proved feasibility through creating constituent textile panels of non-standard shapes with 3-D topography in Phase I, laying the foundation for continued development into fully three-dimensional, seamless, finished products produced in-situ through Phase II. By additively producing garments from a unique 3-D model complete customization to each individual consumer is possible on a large scale, though this has never before been accomplished. Further, through the on-demand production of clothing customized to individual consumers, the need for substantial inventory buildup is eliminated. In this way, additively manufactured textile products are both more desirable to consumers and more economical to producers. As such, the societal and environmental benefits of automated and on-demand textile manufacturing within the United States are significant, including eliminating massive amounts of waste from typical cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques, revamping a struggling American manufacturing industry, and minimizing the economical, environmental, and geopolitical implications of the United States? current dependence on a convoluted global supply chain.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.