SBIR Phase II: Thermal Intensification for Continuous Thermoplastic Composite Forming

SBIR 第二阶段：连续热塑性复合材料成型的热强化

• 批准号: 2036336
• 负责人: Christopher Oberste
• 金额: $ 99.99万
• 依托单位: WEAV3D Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-04-01 至 2025-10-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2036336&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Thermal; Intensification

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the historic challenges associated with composite manufacturing, including long cycle times, poor recyclability, labor-intensive manufacturing, and energy-intensive curing processes, leading to low production throughput and high part cost. This combination of factors has limited the adoption of composite materials in mass markets such as construction and automotive, despite strong demand for lightweight solutions. This project proposes implementation of low-cost composite materials in construction products is projected to reduce the lifecycle cost of utility and infrastructure projects through a combination of lower initial installation costs and lower service and maintenance costs over the life of the installed equipment. In automotive applications, vehicle weight reduction translates to reduced energy consumption, meaning better fuel economy in combustion vehicles or improved electric vehicle range, both of which reduce pollution. Weight reduction, enabled by lightweight composite materials, is a significant component of automaker compliance strategy, as a 10% vehicle weight reduction can achieve a 6-8% fuel economy improvement. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project involves the design, fabrication, and testing of a continuous composite forming machine that uses ultrasonic welding to achieve high throughput of composite materials. Replacing infrared heating for thermoplastic consolidation with ultrasonic welding can achieve an 82-85% reduction in embodied energy (energy per unit mass of material produced), while matching or exceeding the production speed of the infrared system. The research activities proposed for Phase II will translate the embodied energy reductions into production speed improvements through the fabrication and testing of a next-generation continuous composite forming machine that is suitable for high-volume automotive production, with the goal of demonstrating a minimum production capacity of 250,000 door-panel-sized units per year. The key objectives to be addressed are: 1) scale-up and integration of a continuous ultrasonic welding system, 2) fabrication of a 1-meter-wide production machine capable of composite production at a line speed of 200 linear meters per hour, and 3) implementation of process controls suitable for automotive quality standards.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.

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的广泛影响在于解决复合材料制造的历史性挑战，包括周期长、可回收性差、劳动密集型制造和能源密集型固化工艺，这些都导致了低产量和高零件成本。这些因素限制了复合材料在建筑和汽车等大众市场的采用，尽管对轻量化解决方案的需求强劲。该项目建议在建筑产品中实施低成本复合材料，预计通过降低初始安装成本和降低安装设备生命周期内的服务和维护成本，降低公用事业和基础设施项目的生命周期成本。在汽车应用中，车辆重量的减轻转化为能源消耗的减少，这意味着燃烧车辆的燃油经济性更好，或者电动汽车的续航里程更长，两者都可以减少污染。轻量化复合材料实现的减重是汽车制造商合规战略的重要组成部分，因为汽车重量减轻10%可以实现6-8%的燃油经济性提高。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目涉及设计、制造和测试一台连续复合材料成型机，该成型机使用超声波焊接来实现复合材料的高吞吐量。用超声波焊接代替热塑性固结的红外加热，可以实现具体化能量（生产的每单位质量材料的能量）降低82-85%，同时达到或超过红外系统的生产速度。第二阶段的研究活动将通过制造和测试适用于大批量汽车生产的下一代连续复合材料成型机，将所包含的能源减少转化为生产速度的提高，目标是展示每年250,000个门板大小单位的最低生产能力。要解决的关键目标是：1)扩大和集成连续超声波焊接系统，2)制造1米宽的生产机器，能够以每小时200线性米的线速度生产复合材料，以及3)实施适合汽车质量标准的过程控制。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。