ERI: Fused Filament Fabrication of Thermoplastic-Composite Molds Embedded with Heating Wires for Energy-Efficient Production of Thermoset Composites

高性能聚合物复合材料作为金属零件的替代品，在许多轻质和蜂窝结构应用中具有吸引力。然而，与复合材料制造相关的成本，更具体地说，模具制造和模具加热的昂贵成本确实限制了它们的大规模生产。模具的传统高压釜加热需要工具组装和相对较长的交货时间，这增加了制造成本并对广泛采用提出了重大挑战。该工程研究启动（ERI）奖支持基础研究，以了解热塑性复合材料炉外模具的增材制造（AM），以制造热固性复合材料。该研究工作将开发和集成一种低成本的工具，该工具能够在非极性溶剂的存在下，将加热丝沉积在熔丝制造（FFF）制成的部件内，以制造复合材料模具。如果成功，这种创新将消除昂贵和能源密集型高压釜炉的必要性，作为复合材料制造的技术基础，并提高美国复合材料模具在全球市场的竞争力。这个ERI项目还将吸引不同群体的学生，包括代表性不足的少数民族，参与新的制造技术，并提供实践经验，以发展科学，分析思维和领导技能。此外，该团队还将与休斯敦海湾地区的学区合作，开展推广活动，促进K-12学生从事STEM相关领域的职业。本研究的总体目标是建立和理解一个由短碳纤维增强聚碳酸酯制成的电阻加热丝嵌入式炉外复合材料模具的AM系统。为了在3D打印过程中嵌入加热丝，该项目将通过固态核磁共振和傅里叶变换红外光谱研究非极性溶剂引起的热塑性膨胀的基本原理。这项研究将建立一个双挤出FFF打印机集成电阻加热丝沉积系统的发展的基础，以生产复合材料模具的调查电热丝和热塑性塑料之间的相互作用。线加热对制造模具的温度分布的影响将通过红外热成像来表征，并与制造复合材料模具的机械评价相关。此外，还将对由加热丝嵌入模具和传统的热压罐模具制造的热固性复合材料部件进行定量比较。这项研究的结果预计将产生新的知识对材料挤出为基础的AM嵌入式加热复合材料模具的节能复合材料manufacture.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

High-performance polymer composites are attractive for many lightweight and reinforced-structure applications as an alternative to metallic parts. However, the associated cost with composite manufacturing, more specifically, the extensive cost of mold-making and mold heating do limit their large-scale production. The traditional autoclave heating of a mold requires tooling assembly and a relatively long lead time, which add up the manufacturing cost and pose significant challenges to widespread adoption. This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) award supports fundamental research to understand additive manufacturing (AM) of thermoplastic-composite out-of-oven molds to make thermoset composites. The research effort will develop and integrate a lower-cost tool that enables the deposition of heating wires within parts made by fused filament fabrication (FFF), in the presence of a nonpolar solvent, to fabricate composite molds. If successful, such an innovation will eliminate the necessity of costly and energy-intensive autoclave ovens, serving as technological groundwork of composite manufacturing and enhance the U.S. composite tooling competitiveness in the global market. This ERI project will also engage a diverse group of students, including underrepresented minorities, in new manufacturing technologies and provide hands-on experiences to develop scientific, analytical thinking, and leadership skills. In addition, the team will partner with school districts in the gulf coast area of Houston for outreach activities that promote K-12 students to pursue a career in STEM-related fields.The overall goal of this research is to establish and understand a system for AM of resistance heating wire embedded out-of-oven composite molds made of short carbon-fiber reinforced polycarbonate. For embedding heating wires during 3D printing, the project will investigate the fundamentals of thermoplastic swelling due to nonpolar solvents by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The study will build the basis for the development of a dual-extrusion FFF printer integrated with a resistance heating wire deposition system to produce composite molds for the investigation into the interaction between heating wires and thermoplastics. The effect of wire heating on the temperature profile of the fabricated mold will be characterized by infrared thermography and correlated with the mechanical evaluation of fabricated composite molds. In addition, thermoset composite components made by the heating-wire embedded molds and conventional autoclave molds will be quantitatively compared. The findings of this research are expected to generate new knowledge on material-extrusion based AM of embedded heating composite molds for energy-efficient composite manufacture.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.