3D Printed Shell for Fiber-Reinforced Articles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for producing fiber-reinforced materials face challenges such as the need for molds, which are costly and labor-intensive, and difficulty in achieving complex shapes and maintaining fiber continuity, leading to limitations in strength and durability.
Innovation Solution
A method using 3D printing with a shell that has a surface in negative relief, allowing the curable resin with reinforcement fibers to adopt its shape, eliminating the need for molds and enabling the creation of fiber-reinforced articles with improved strength and durability without post-treatments like cutting or polishing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional molding processes are used to produce fiber-reinforced materials, then the fibers can be transferred to a mold and resin can be introduced, but the preparation of molds requires significant effort, energy and materials, and molds are costly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of mold preparation by using a detachable support structure that can be removed after curing. This eliminates the need for permanent, costly molds while maintaining the ability to produce fiber-reinforced materials with continuous fibers. The support structure is temporarily used during the process and then discarded, avoiding the resource-intensive mold preparation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the production process into distinct phases: placing fibers on a support structure, introducing resin, curing, and then removing the support. This segmentation allows the use of simple, disposable support structures instead of complex, permanent molds, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while preserving fiber continuity.
2Shape
If molds are used to produce complex shaped products, then the shape can be defined, but products with undercuts or highly curved thin shapes cannot be released from the mold
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the shape-defining function from permanent molds and transfers it to temporary support structures. These supports can be designed for specific complex geometries including undercuts and curved surfaces, and are removed after curing, enabling production of shapes that would be impossible to release from traditional molds.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to release the product from the mold, the invention inverts the approach by having the support structure dissolve or detach after curing. This allows complex shapes to be formed without the release problem, as the support is removed chemically or mechanically after the product has cured.
3Manufacturing precision
If high force is applied to close a mold and ensure complete filling, then the mold fills completely, but substantial damage occurs to the fibers such as interruption of their continuity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses resin infusion under controlled pressure (pneumatic/hydraulic principle) to fill the mold. The resin is introduced through a vacuum or pressure system that distributes the filling force uniformly, avoiding concentrated mechanical forces that would damage fibers. This allows complete mold filling while maintaining fiber continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of force application from high concentrated mechanical force to distributed pressure through resin infusion. This parameter change allows complete filling of the mold while applying stress uniformly that does not interrupt fiber continuity, preserving the strength and integrity of the fiber-reinforced material.
4Shape
If subtractive processes are used to prepare thin highly curved products with large volume, then the shape can be achieved, but a lot of waste material is generated and cutting is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by placing fibers and resin in the exact final shape configuration before curing. The support structure is designed with the negative relief of the desired final product, so when resin is infused and cured, the product takes the exact required shape without needing subsequent subtractive processing. This eliminates material waste and difficult cutting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the manufacturing approach from subtractive (removing material) to additive (building the shape directly). By infusing resin into a pre-configured fiber arrangement on a support structure, the product is created in its final shape with minimal material waste, avoiding the need for difficult cutting and shaping operations required by subtractive processes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the production of fiber-reinforced articles with precise geometry and enhanced mechanical properties, reducing material waste and production costs while maintaining high fiber continuity and strength, and enabling complex shapes that would be difficult or impossible with traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
wherein the curable resin is contacted with the surface of the shell that comprises an incompletely cured resin, to form a mixture of curable resin and reinforcement fibers on the surface of the shell
Implementation Method 2
curing the curable resin to form a fiber-reinforced article
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for preparing a fiber-reinforced article, having attached to at least part of its surface a layer of a material that is not fiber-reinforced, comprising the steps of 1) preparing a shell via an additive manufacturing technique, the shell - being of a material that is not fiber-reinforced; and - having a surface that corresponds in negative relief to a surface of the article formed in step 3); thereafter 10 2) applying - long and/or continuous reinforcement fibers; and - a curable resin to the surface of the shell that is in negative relief, to form a mixture of curable resin and long and/or continuous reinforcement fibers on the 1 surface of the shell, so that the surface of the mixture contacting the shell adopts the shape of the surface of the shell that is in negative relief; thereafter 3) curing the curable resin to form the fiber-reinforced article having attached to at least part of its surface a layer of a material that is not 20 fiber-reinforced.