3D printed composite material structures for aerospace

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One of the challenges in today's aerospace industry is the energy efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of low-volume components. While the usage of thermoplastic composites becomes increasingly common in today's aircrafts, metallic fasteners and brackets remain the most common solution to fasten various components. Due to advancements in numerical modelling and design optimization, the design complexity of aircraft components is steadily increasing. This results in the demand of specialized low volume production of complex hardware, small and large sized components. Canadian aerospace suppliers are therefore highly motivated to develop new methods to fabricate aircraft certified hardware and components that improve on current design flexibility and mass, while maintaining the required safety standards and mechanical properties. Research in the field of additive manufacturing of polymer-based composites, specifically fused filament fabrication (FFF) shows a promising solution as an innovative manufacturing process. The objective of the proposed research project between Hutchinson Aerospace and Industry and McGill University is the scientific and technological advancement of FFF technology to make the materials and process suitable to produce repeatable high-quality parts for the aerospace industry. More specifically, this project strives for advancements in the field of 3D printable composite materials, processing of high-performance composites via FFF, as well as the reduction of the notorious process variations associated to 3D printing by leveraging smart monitoring technology coupled with numerical simulation approaches. In addition, the development of an innovative and robust, large scale 3D printing system will push the state of the art of additive manufacturing for aerospace parts to a new level.