Method and system for dynamic capillary-driven additive manufacturing of continuous fiber composite
AssigneeUniversity of Delaware
InventorsKelvin Fu, Baohui Shi
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Abstract
A process for additive manufacturing of a thermoset resin fiber reinforced composite comprises depositing a fiber material along a path having a direction; heating the fiber material using a heater to generate a moving thermal gradient in the fiber material trailing the heater relative to the path direction; and dispensing a thermosetting polymer material on the heated fiber material at a trailing distance the from the heater along the path. The thermosetting polymer dynamically wicks into the fiber material along the thermal gradient in the path direction.
Claims13
A process for additive manufacturing of a thermoset resin fiber reinforced composite, comprising the sequential steps of:
- depositing a first layer of fiber material along a path having a direction;
- then, heating the first layer of fiber material using a heater to generate a moving thermal gradient in the first layer of fiber material trailing the heater relative to the path direction;
- and
- then, dispensing a thermosetting polymer material on the first layer of heated fiber material at a trailing distance the from the heater along the path;
- wherein the thermosetting polymer dynamically wicks into the first layer of fiber material along the thermal gradient in the path direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.