SBIR Phase II: Solar Concentrator Unit for Low-Cost Metal Additive Manufacturing

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力来自于能够在月球上运行的集中式太阳能3D打印机的开发。3D打印机有效地利用了太阳的热量，将月球土壤融合成定制的部件，用于生产机械部件和结构。月球上的资源，特别是阳光和土壤，使就地生产零件成为可能，而不需要昂贵的从地球发射材料的步骤。这种用于太空制造的能力可以用于许多应用。此外，建议的技术可用于开发一种低成本的消费型3D打印机，能够制造金属、玻璃和许多以前无法接触到的材料的定制组件。该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将推进太阳能添加剂制造(SAM)测试平台的开发。该项目将探索几种原料材料，包括月球土壤模拟物、玻璃和一种精选的金属。将制作测试券以表征部件的质量和强度，并将进行迭代测试以优化打印机性能。然后，将从月球土壤模拟物中生产定制的机械部件，作为月球制造的实际部件的演示。该项目的最后阶段将是降低系统复杂性，并设计一款重量轻、专门建造的太阳能3D打印机。这一努力将生产出一种面向消费者市场的低成本太阳能打印机，以及一种用于月球环境测试的月球有效载荷原型设计。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project comes from the development of a concentrated solar 3D printer capable of operating on the Moon. The 3D printer efficiently harnesses the heat of the Sun to fuse lunar soil into custom parts for producing mechanical components and structures. The resources on the Moon, particularly sunlight and soil, enable in situ parts production without the expensive step of launching materials from Earth. This capability for in-space manufacturing could be used for many applications. Furthermore, the proposed technology can be used to develop a low-cost, consumer 3D printer capable of fabricating custom components of metal, glass, and many previously inaccessible materials. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance development of a Solar Additive Manufacturing (SAM) test platform. This project will explore several feedstock materials, including lunar soil simulants, glass, and a select metal. Test coupons will be produced to characterize part quality and strength and iterative testing will be performed to optimize printer performance. Custom mechanical components will then be produced from lunar soil simulants as a demonstration of practical parts for lunar manufacturing. The final stage of the project will be to reduce system complexity and design a lightweight, purpose-built solar 3D printer. This effort will produce a low-cost solar printer ready for the consumer market as well as a lunar payload prototype design for testing in a lunar environment.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.