3D Printing Composite Materials with Dynamic Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current additive manufacturing and computer-aided design systems are limited in creating three-dimensional composite components with variable materials, as they face constraints in material types, precision, and movement control, especially in achieving complex shapes and load-bearing characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A novel three-dimensional accretive manufacturing system that integrates position-awareness, real-time sensing, and control software to manipulate and deposit composite materials like thermoplastics with fibre inclusions, using articulable positioning and deposition means, enabling precise placement and optimization of material deposition based on real-time feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional subtractive manufacturing is used, then material removal achieves desired form, but access limitations and material restrictions worsen manufacturing capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional subtractive manufacturing approach by using additive manufacturing (3D printing) to build components layer by layer. This inversion allows complex geometries to be created without tool access limitations and enables use of diverse materials including composites, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing capability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials with variable fibre inclusion in extrudable substrates, allowing different material properties to be incorporated in different regions of the printed component. This resolves the material restriction issue by enabling versatile material selection while maintaining manufacturing capability through additive processes.
2Ease of manufacture
If additive manufacturing builds parts from layers, then material deposition creates three-dimensional objects, but constraints on base movement and print-head location worsen precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the build platform dynamic and articulable rather than fixed, allowing real-time adjustment of the platform's position and orientation during the printing process. This dynamic capability enables precise material deposition while accommodating the additive manufacturing process requirements, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates sensing means and control systems that provide real-time feedback on the location and orientation of the build platform and print-head. This feedback loop enables closed-loop control to maintain manufacturing precision despite the dynamic nature of additive manufacturing, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and precision.
3Productivity
If computer-aided design systems are used, then design tasks are streamlined, but lack of tools for composite components worsens design capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends computer-aided design systems to provide universal tools that handle both traditional design tasks and composite component design. The integrated system performs topology optimization, stress analysis, and material distribution optimization for composite structures, resolving the contradiction between design efficiency and composite component design capability by making the CAD system multi-functional.
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
Enables the creation of complex three-dimensional composite components with improved precision and efficiency, allowing for the manufacture of parts with optimized structural and aesthetic qualities that meet load-bearing and design constraints.
Implementation Method 1
sensors for spatial location of the work piece and elements of the manufacturing apparatus
Implementation Method 2
sensors for status, control and other characteristics of the manufacturing apparatus itself
Implementation Method 3
control software for instructing the manufacturing apparatus to perform the designed material deposition which monitor the manufacturing process in real-time or near real-time and adjust the operational behavior
Implementation Method 4
deposition means having at one end a discharge outlet operative for releasing and laying material for forming the object onto the stage
Data Source
AI summary
The invention disclosed herein integrates several technological concepts: novel three-dimensional accretive manufacturing mechanisms and processes; combinations of fiber materials with plastics, typically thermoplastics, in accretive manufacturing (three-dimensional printing, for example); position-awareness for manufacturing control systems; and computer-aided design optimization processes with novel feedbacks.