Potential of bio-inspired micromeshes for the design of rigid-shell aerostats: microplating manufacturing process based on additive manufacturing.

仿生微网格在硬壳浮空器设计中的潜力：基于增材制造的微电镀制造工艺。

• 批准号: 560897-2020
• 负责人: StOnge, David
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: École de technologie supérieure
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=707329
• 关键词: Potential; bio; inspired; micromeshes; design

Airship design and manufacturing has recently known a renewed interest in Canada, as shown by the massive amounts (several millions) pulled in venture funding by BASI and Flying Whales. The NOVA project proposed here aims to develop a novel manufacturing technology that could lead to breakthroughs useful for outdoor and indoor airships, while making them safer for applications involving humans. Many applications have been proposed for indoor airships: structural inspection, underground exploration, monitoring of areas to be secured, monitoring of goods in a warehouse, detection of gas leaks in factories... However, none have yet materialized. The main barriers to their adoption remain their large volume and the fragility of their envelope. We decided to explore the concept of rigid-shell aerostatic flying machines to which we gave the name "aerostabiles". For any aerostats, most of the mass is concentrated at the surfaces of the gas-containing enclosure, which therefore must have a very low surface density. This is not a problem for a flexible membrane, but the implementation of envelopes that are simultaneously very light, impermeable and rigid was unconceivable up to now. In our current research, we planned to use 3D printed micromeshes made of hollow tubes of metallic materials or rods of polymer. While exploring this path, the possibility to explore in depth one of the most promising manufacturing methods appeared through a collaboration with Prof. McDonald (UofA), a new team member for this proposal. This approach involves templates made of light-polymer solid rod lattices; these templates are plated with a thin metallic layer; the polymer is then eliminated thanks to a specific solvent, leaving a lattice of thin hollow tubes whose wall thickness is a few micrometers. Similar techniques were shown to achieve high strength with unprecedented low density and to exhibit elastic recovery. The resulting ultralight structures have an enormous potential for the future development of lighter-than-air vehicles.

飞艇设计和制造业最近知道加拿大的新兴趣，如大量（数百万）所示，巴西和飞鲸筹集了风险投资。 NOVA项目旨在开发一种新型的制造技术，该技术可能会导致对室外和室内飞艇有用的突破，同时使它们更安全地适用于涉及人类的应用。 已经提出了许多用于室内飞艇的申请：结构检查，地下勘探，监视要确保的区域，对仓库中的货物进行监控，工厂中的燃气泄漏发现……但是，没有人尚未实现。他们采用的主要障碍仍然是它们的大容量和信封的脆弱性。我们决定探索刚性空气飞行器的概念，我们给了“ Aerostabiles”这个名字。对于任何气柱，大多数质量都集中在含气体围墙的表面上，因此必须具有非常低的表面密度。对于灵活的膜而言，这不是一个问题，而是同时非常轻，不可渗透和僵化的信封的实施是无法想象的。在我们目前的研究中，我们计划使用由金属材料或聚合物杆制成的3D打印微观。在探索这一道路时，通过与该提案的新团队成员麦当劳教授（UOFA）合作，可以深入探索最有前途的制造方法之一。这种方法涉及由轻聚合物固体杆晶格制成的模板。这些模板用薄的金属层铺板。然后由于特定的溶剂而消除了聚合物，留下了一个薄的空心管的晶格，其壁厚为几微米。表明类似的技术以前所未有的低密度和弹性恢复能够达到高强度。由此产生的超轻结构具有巨大的潜力，即未来更轻的空气车辆的发展。