Embedded Woven Layers in 3D-Printed Seals for Wear Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft air pressure seals face challenges with wear resistance and shape maintenance, leading to potential safety and comfort issues, and there is a need for improved seals with enhanced wear-resistant and electrical conductivity characteristics.
Innovation Solution
An additive manufacturing system that simultaneously extrudes a matrix material and a reinforcing material, such as woven fibers, to create components with improved wear resistance and electrical conductivity, using a nozzle with adjustable orifice dimensions and internal blades to control layer thickness and orientation of the reinforcing material within the matrix.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional materials are used for air pressure seals, then the seals can be manufactured with simple processes, but the wear resistance and shape maintenance are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a matrix material (polymer, metal, or ceramic) with reinforcing material (fibers, particles, or structural additives) to create a seal that achieves both improved wear resistance and electrical conductivity while maintaining manufacturability through additive manufacturing processes
2Reliability
If conventional materials are used for air pressure seals, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the electrical conductivity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates conductive reinforcing materials (such as metal fibers, carbon-based materials, or conductive particles) within the matrix material to provide electrical conductivity while maintaining the benefits of additive manufacturing processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by strategically positioning conductive reinforcing materials at specific locations within the seal structure where electrical conductivity is most needed, such as at the sealing interface or in regions requiring electrostatic discharge protection
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional sealing materials are used, then the production is straightforward, but the shape retention and damage resistance are inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials with a matrix material reinforced by structural additives (fibers, particles, or woven patterns) to enhance shape retention and damage resistance while leveraging additive manufacturing to maintain production efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by incorporating reinforcing materials and structural features during the additive manufacturing process itself, rather than adding them later, to pre-establish the seal's shape retention capabilities and damage resistance before the seal is put into service
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
The system produces components with enhanced wear resistance and electrical conductivity, ensuring better shape retention and reducing the risk of damage, thereby improving passenger safety and comfort while optimizing fuel consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the nozzle is configured to extrude the matrix material and the reinforcing material from the orifice simultaneously
Data Source
AI summary
Additive manufacturing systems and methods having an extrusion head with a nozzle. The nozzle extrudes a composite material from an orifice of the nozzle to form a layer of a component. The composite material has at least a matrix material and a reinforcing material. The nozzle extrudes the matrix and reinforcing materials from the orifice simultaneously. The width and height of the orifice are adjustable to control the width and thickness of the layer extruded therefrom. The width and thickness of the layer are the same as the width and height, respectively, of the nozzle orifice, while the nozzle is extruding the composite material through the orifice. The width and height of the nozzle orifice are perpendicular to each other and transverse to an extrusion direction from the nozzle orifice. A majority of a surface area of the reinforcing material is encapsulated within the matrix material after being dispensed from the nozzle.