SBIR Phase I: A novel non-textile fabric and assembly method

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在将一种全新的层状材料工业化，以展示非纺织但灵活的织物在各种不同商业应用中的价值。这种新材料没有纤维，不需要编织或针织。相反，它使用硬和刚性？元素？- 聚合物、陶瓷或金属的数字化精确形状--在一个快速过程中同时形成并铰接在一起，称为？直接成型，？- 是3D打印的近亲因此，即使单个元件是坚硬和坚韧的，因此非常耐用，这些元件铰接在一起的方式也产生了灵活性，允许新材料像皮革和纺织品一样符合圆形或不规则形状的表面。一旦这项研究确定了最佳的铰链配置，受让人打算成为市场上第一个使用这项技术的公司，专注于技术纺织品领域，用于标准纺织品（如防弹尼龙，帆布或编织纤维）无法满足要求的应用。该项目的第一阶段是对精确的铰链结构进行工程设计和测试，使新材料能够超过特定目标市场的拉伸和冲击强度标准，例如商业座椅。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括最初目标的1.8亿美元的商业座椅纺织品市场。交通运输、消费品、建筑和土木工程用途是16个以上行业部门400多个应用中的一部分。但更重要的是，制造过程被称为？直接成型。当完全工业化后，它将本地化生产高性能，耐用的技术纺织品，阻止室内装饰纺织品生产的离岸趋势。这将使美国能够重新获得现在失去海外切割和缝纫业务的完整零件的生产。直接成型工艺将严重降低大规模生产项目离岸外包的真实成本，以及随之而来的材料浪费和与国际航运和仓储有关的碳氢燃料的广泛使用。直接成型将带来不同的产业模式，？大规模定制？沿着3-D打印将在不久的将来彻底改变成千上万的零件和材料的制造方式。计算机将在一次生产中完全按照制造商的规格制造纺织品和其他产品？添加剂？过程中，而不是制造件从一个更大的螺栓或大块的聚合物或金属在更浪费？减法？流程.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to industrialize a radically new laminar material to demonstrate the value of non-textile but flexible fabric for a variety of different commercial applications. This new material has no fibers and requires no weaving or knitting. Instead, it uses hard and rigid ?elements? - digitally precise shapes of polymers, ceramics or metals - that are simultaneously formed and hinged together in a rapid process called ?Direct Forming,? - a close relative of 3-D printing. Thus, even though the individual elements are hard and tough, and therefore extremely durable, the way these elements are hinged together creates flexibility that allows the new material to conform to rounded or irregularly shaped surfaces like leathers and textiles do. Once this research establishes the optimum hinge configurations, the Grantee intends to be the first in the marketplace with this technology, concentrating on the technical textiles segment for applications where standard textiles, such as ballistic nylon, canvas, or woven fibers cannot meet requirements. This Phase I project is to conduct the engineering and testing of the exact hinging structures that will allow the new material to exceed tensile and impact strength standards for specific target markets, such as commercial seating.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes the initially targeted $180 million annual commercial seating textile market. Transportation, consumer products, architecture and civil engineering uses are some of the over 400 applications in over 16 industry sectors also identified. But even more important is the manufacturing process referred to as ?Direct Forming.? When fully industrialized, it will localize the production of high performance, robust technical textiles, stemming the trend of offshoring upholstery textile production. This will allow the U.S. to recapture the production of complete parts now lost to overseas cut and sew operations. The direct forming process will severely undercut the true costs of offshoring mass-produced items, and its attendant material waste and extensive use of hydrocarbon fuel associated with international shipping and warehousing. Direct forming will bring about a different industrial model, ?mass customization,? that along with 3-D printing will revolutionize the way thousands of parts and materials will be manufactured in the very near future. Computers will form textiles and other products exactly to manufacturer specifications in a single ?additive? process, rather than manufacturing pieces from a larger bolt or hunk of polymer or metal in more wasteful ?subtractive? processes.