SBIR Phase I: Thermal Intensification for Continuous Thermoplastic Composite Forming

SBIR 第一阶段：连续热塑性复合材料成型的热强化

• 批准号: 1843054
• 负责人: Christopher Oberste
• 金额: $ 22.47万
• 依托单位: WEAV3D Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-01 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1843054&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Thermal; Intensification; Continuous

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project relates to the historic challenges associated with composite manufacturing, including long cycle times, poor recyclability, labor-intensive manufacturing, and energy-intensive curing processes. Thermoplastic composites have the potential to reduce cycle time, reduce labor requirements, and improve recyclability; however, traditional thermoplastic processes are energy intensive. This Phase 1 SBIR is seeking new, more efficient process heating methods that can be integrated into a continuous composite manufacturing process to improve production speed and reduce operating costs, enabling the growth of composite materials in weight sensitive industries that require high-volume, low-cost structural components, including automotive, unmanned aircraft, wind turbines, and cargo transportation.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will determine the technical feasibility of ultrasonic heating and induction heating as an alternative to infrared heating in a continuous composite forming process. Process heating constitutes a significant portion of the direct energy consumed by in manufacturing. This is particularly true in the production of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, where the polymer matrix must be melted as part of the consolidation process. As part of this Phase 1 project, heater modules for induction heating, ultrasonic heating, and infrared heating will be developed and integrated into a bench-scale, continuous composite forming prototype. Composite material will be produced using each heating method and energy consumption will be monitored during the forming process. The composite material produced during testing will be weighed and embodied energy will be calculated by dividing the total energy consumed by the mass of the material. The objective of this work is to identify a heating method that can reduce embodied energy by at least 40%, relative to the infrared heating system.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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力与复合制造相关的历史挑战有关，包括漫长的周期时间，可回收性差，劳动密集型制造业和能源密集型固化过程。热塑性复合材料有可能减少周期时间，减少劳动力需求并提高可回收性；但是，传统的热塑性过程是能源密集型的。该第1阶段SBIR正在寻求新的，更有效的过程供暖方法，可以将其集成到连续的复合制造过程中，以提高生产速度并降低运营成本，从而使重量敏感行业的复合材料在需要高量的高量，低成本的结构组件中的增长，包括自动化的，无人驾驶飞机，无人驾驶飞机，货物的货物，以及SMILLE BRICEDINE INTRAPTION INTRAPEN INTICAR INTINAVE INTINAVE INTININ INTINAV ININBIR INTINAVE（SMIMBL INTION INTICARIAV）。在连续的复合形成过程中，超声加热和诱导加热作为红外加热的可行性。工艺加热构成了制造业消耗的直接能量的很大一部分。在纤维增强的热塑性复合材料的生产中尤其如此，其中必须将聚合物矩阵作为整合过程的一部分融化。作为该阶段1项目的一部分，将开发用于感应加热，超声加热和红外加热的加热器模块，并将其集成到台式，连续的复合材料形成原型中。将使用每种加热方法生产复合材料，并在成型过程中监测能耗。测试过程中产生的复合材料将被称重，并通过将消耗的总能量除以材料的质量来计算。这项工作的目的是确定一种加热方法，相对于红外供暖系统，可以将体现能量减少至少40％。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估评估来审查标准的。