SBIR Phase II: 3D Printing of Thermally Stable Composites for Injection Mold Tooling

SBIR第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是降低注塑成型的成本，注塑成型是制造塑料制品的常用方法。不幸的是，注塑成型可能是一个漫长而浪费的过程，因为模具是由金属设计，加工，然后运送到注塑机。拟议项目将开发用于小批量注塑应用的新模具，其强度和分辨率可与机加工铝相媲美，成本和交货时间仅为当前成本的一小部分，为供应链提供额外的弹性。 这将用于汽车、航空航天、消费品和医疗器械等行业的应用。第二阶段SBIR将把纤维增强光聚合物3D打印的进步应用于注塑应用。 该项目将应用纤维填充光聚合物（如陶瓷和聚合物颗粒增强树脂）的进步，结合磁性排列结构，以注塑模具。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this SBIR Phase II project is to lower costs for injection molding, a common method of manufacturing plastic goods. Unfortunately, injection molding can be a lengthy and wasteful process because molds are designed, machined from metal, and then shipped to an injection molder. The proposed project will develop new tooling for low-volume injection molding applications at strengths and resolutions comparable with machined aluminum at a fraction of the current cost and lead time, providing extra resilience to the supply chain. This will be used for applications in industries across automotive, aerospace, consumer product goods, and medical devices.This Phase II SBIR will apply advancements in 3D printing of fiber-reinforced photopolymers to the injection molding application. This project will apply advancements in fiber-filled photopolymers (such as ceramic and polymer particle reinforced resins) in combination with magnetically aligned structures to injection mold tools. Tooling inserts will be tested across the most common and challenging injection molding plastics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.