The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to increase the all-around strength of three dimentional (3D)-printed polymer objects, which will make such objects more useful for structurally-stressed prototypes and manufactured products (including prototypes and products that are physically large). The prposed strength gains are expected from embedding continuous carbon-fiber filaments in multiple directions within the body of a 3D-print. Designers and engineers seek to tailor internal carbon-fiber arrangements to suit their specific needs. The resulting carbon-fiber-reinforced objects (as with 3D-printed objects in general) may be produced without the expensive and/or time-consuming use of molds, tooling, or specialized hand-labor. By facilitating the cost-effective production of strong, plastics-based custom and low-volume manufactured products, this project seeks accelerate product development, foster entrepreneurship, and encourage manufacturing endeavors within the United States by making it easier to turn imagined concepts into strong, functional objects in the physical world.This SBIR Phase I project seeks to develop a process for embedding continuous, layer-crossing, carbon-fiber filaments within the body of a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D print in order to provide tensile and shear reinforcement along planes orthogonal to the 3D printed layer. The goal of the research is to employ quasi-parallel filaments oriented orthogonal to 3D print layers, reducing the interlayer weakness and resultant structural anisotropy characteristic of FDM prints. The project will further examine the use of more complex filament arrangements to provide selective reinforcement in directions and along paths specified by a product designer. The overall strength, stiffness, and toughness will be assessed adn compared to conventionally-manufactured engineering plastics. The embedding process, which will take place simultaneously with the layer-by-layer creation of the print, will be achieved by combining the actions of FDM printer nozzles with those of automated robotic filament manipulators. The project will examine the geometric range of printed parts and components that incorporate reinforcing filaments, with initial goal of printing reinforced shell-like objects that continuously curve along multiple axes.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.
