Rapid Additive Manufacturing of Large Sandwich Composite Structures for Aerospace Applications

熔丝制造(FFF)是一种流行的添加剂制造(AM)技术，它能够通过逐层沉积熔融的热塑性塑料丝来快速制造3D零件。业界认可的FFF技术主要运行在封闭源代码模式下(即，用户不允许更改打印参数，仅限于打印机供应商提供的打印材料)，并且与开源FFF相比非常昂贵。我们项目的主要目标是开发新材料，同时改进开源打印工艺，旨在制造行业认可的复合材料部件，显著降低制造和材料成本。该项目的主要成果将是：(O1)高性能复合材料的配方和表征，该复合材料具有高机械和热性能，用于FFF制造，以及(O2)开源FFF工艺的进步，该工艺能够实现更高的制造灵活性(例如，新的复合材料配方)和更高的生产率(即，改进的印刷速度和尺寸)，以制造具有航空航天应用所需性能的复合夹芯板(由两个面板和一个芯子组成)。该项目带来的发明将推动FFF过程在开源环境中的进步，为加拿大制造业带来新的机遇。这个拟议的项目是蒙特利尔理工学院的研究团队、位于布切维尔(QC)的NRC汽车和表面运输(AST)研究中心与两个工业合作伙伴赛峰科技(Safran Tech)和Solaxis Ingenious制造公司共同开展的研究工作。该项目将提供先进添加剂制造方面的2名博士生和6名本科生实习生的培训，这将有助于支持我们的行业，帮助加拿大在这一新兴领域具有竞争力，并将在包括热塑性复合材料、添加剂制造和航空航天分级材料在内的各个领域产生重要的知识进步。这一合作伙伴关系将刺激魁北克和加拿大AM热塑性复合材料的完整供应链。

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.