SBIR Phase I: Rapid and scalable production of high-performance 3-dimensional foam cores

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是减轻当今地面车辆的重量并提高其效率。用结构复合材料（一种包裹着碳纤维和树脂的泡沫芯）代替钢是减轻车辆结构重量、提高效率和安全性的关键策略。目前的泡沫芯往往表现出低性能和昂贵的生产非平面设计。因此，对于大规模生产的汽车来说，三维芯复合材料的成本仍然过高，只能用于小众的高性能汽车。改进核心性能和制造工艺将开启结构复合材料的大批量生产，并使制造商能够在未来十年内将其车队的效率提高40%。这种可制造性的改进也可以加速城市空中交通工具和电动飞机的开发和部署。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将支持开发一种新型、高通量的增材制造技术，用于具有独特、特定机械性能（强度重量比或刚度重量比）的三维热固性聚合物泡沫部件。结合独特的热固性聚合物，材料科学和机器人3D打印喷嘴，可以按需解锁和快速生产净形状，复杂的泡沫部件，并将其纳入现有的供应链。该项目将开发和测试新的树脂配方，优化材料合成和沉积，并实现对泡沫微观结构的原位控制。利用后一种特性，再加上拓扑优化软件，该项目将生产出第一个泡沫超材料。这些独特的超材料将使用美国测试和材料协会的标准进行机械和热测试，以确保加工符合行业标准。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to reduce the weight and increase the efficiency of today's ground vehicles. Replacing steel with structural composites, a foam core wrapped in carbon fiber and resin, is a key strategy to reduce vehicular structural weight and to increase efficiency and safety. Current foam cores often exhibit low performance and are costly to produce for non-planar designs. As a result, three-dimensional cored composites remain cost-prohibitive for mass-manufactured automobiles and relegated to niche, high-performance vehicles. Improving core performance and fabrication processes will unlock high volume manufacturing of structural composites and enable manufacturers to increase the efficiency of their fleet by up to 40% throughout the next decade. Such a step-improvement in manufacturability can also accelerate urban air mobility vehicles and electric aircraft development and deployment.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the development of a novel, high throughput additive manufacturing technology for three-dimensional, thermosetting polymer foam parts featuring unique, specific mechanical properties (strength-to-weight or stiffness-to-weight ratios). Combining a unique 3D printing nozzle for thermosetting polymers, material science, and robotics enables unlocking on-demand and the rapid production of net shape, complex foam parts to be incorporated into existing supply chains. The project will develop and test novel resin formulations, optimize material synthesis and deposition, and enable the control of foam microstructure in situ. Using this latter feature, coupled with topology-optimization software, the project will produce the first foam metamaterials. These unique metamaterials will be mechanically and thermally tested using American Society for Testing and Materials standards to ensure the processing meets industry standards.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.