Rapid Additive Manufacturing of Large Sandwich Composite Structures for Aerospace Applications

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Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is a popular additive manufacturing (AM) technique that enables quick fabrication of 3D parts through layer-by-layer deposition of melted thermoplastic filament. Industrially-approved FFF technology mostly operates in a closed-source mode (i.e., no change of printing parameters is permitted by the user, limited to the printing materials provided by the printer supplier) and is very expensive when compared to open-source FFF. The main objective of our project is to develop new materials while improving open-source printing processes aiming at manufacturing industry-approved composite parts with a significantly reduced manufacturing and materials costs. The main outcomes of this project will be: (O1) the formulation and characterization of high-performance composite materials featuring high mechanical and thermal performance for the FFF manufacturing, and (O2) the advancement of the open-source FFF process that enables a higher manufacturing flexibility (e.g., new composite formulations) and higher productivity (i.e., improved printing speed and size) for manufacturing composite sandwich panels (composed of 2 facesheets and a core) with the required performance for aerospace applications. The inventions ensued from this project will drive the advancement of the FFF process in an open-source environment to bring new opportunities for the Canadian manufacturing industry. This proposed project is a collaborative research work between Polytechnique Montreal's research team, NRC's Automotive and Surface Transportation (AST) Research Centre located in Boucherville (QC) and two industrial partners, Safran Tech and Solaxis Ingenious Manufacturing Inc. This project will provide a training of 2 PhD students and 6 undergraduate interns in advanced additive manufacturing that will help support our industry and help Canada to be competitive in this emerging field, and will generate important knowledge advancements in various fields including thermoplastic composites, additive manufacturing, and aerospace-graded materials. This partnership will stimulate the full supply chain in AM of thermoplastic composites in Québec and Canada.