ULTRASONIC CONSOLIDATION OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENT MATERIALS FOR GENERATIVE MANUFACTURING
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORP
- Filing Date
- 2022-03-28
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-10
AI Technical Summary
Existing additive manufacturing machines face challenges with scalability, affordability, and flexibility due to gantry-style approaches, and continuous filament composite structures lack interlaminar strength if interfaces between layers are not intimately fused, leading to voids or cold bonds.
A continuous filament additive manufacturing machine equipped with a robotic system and an ultrasonic compaction device that melts and consolidates material as it is deposited, using ultrasonic vibration to fuse layers and improve interlaminar strength through ultrasonic compaction.
Enhances interlaminar properties, reduces part porosity, and improves surface smoothness and tolerance by ensuring intimate fusion of layers, enabling increased composite material applications and scalability.