The production of lightweight composite materials has high requirements in the fields of aerospace, automotive, and defense. In these fields, reducing weight and ensuring strength and durability are key factors in completing the task. However, this is a very time-consuming and expensive process.
ExOne is a US-based additive manufacturing company that specializes in the field of 3D printing for metal and sand binder jetting. ExOne has now developed an alternative that makes it possible to manufacture complex carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced parts, thereby avoiding the use of costly tools to build complex geometries. This means that no auxiliary methods such as solvents, venting tools, or chisels are required.
The technology is an scouring process that uses solid but soluble 3D printed silica or ceramic sand cores. According to specific strength requirements, 3D print water-soluble spraying agent or Te before the composite ply to leave a surface without pores, and then add composite materials on the surface by fabric or superposition. After curing, the soluble support material is easily rinsed off with tap water, leaving a hollow composite part. And the dissolved media can also be recycled and reused for future 3D printing.
Rick Lucas, Chief Technology Officer of ExOne, said: “This is what we have been working on for some time. This is the market we want to target and pursue. We have engineers who have worked in the composites industry and understand people. There is a deeper demand for the status quo of composite manufacturing.”
Since 2013, ExOne engineers have discovered for the first time that they can bond silica or ceramic grit to a water-soluble solvent at 180°C. The difficulties are focused on the coating step and the use of adhesive jet 3D printing to optimize the material. Lucas explained: “The ceramic sand we usually use is porous. So if you just spread the composite material on it, autoclave it under pressure and heat, and then solidify it; then the resin will penetrate In the composite material, it is no longer washed off. Therefore, we must apply a layer of coating on it to prevent this from happening. In the past year or so, we have been spending a lot of time improving the coating Methods and processes, and to ensure that customers are provided with good coating options.”
Final piping parts made of composite materials made by water-soluble technology
Today, this method is used to manufacture carbon fiber and glass fiber reinforced composite materials, including aircraft air ducts, pressure tanks, shields, pillars, and mandrels, especially for designs that were previously unsuitable for manufacturing through traditional technology. For example, REC, a company that provides air ducts for heavy helicopters, used ExOne’s flushing tool to create mandrels for air ducts on two CH-35K helicopters, and successfully delivered these helicopters to the U.S. Marine Corps for demonstration.
Carbon fiber composite pipes made using 3D printing water-soluble pipes
ExOne also tries to deal with another common challenge encountered in traditional autoclaving processes-thermal expansion and its effect on part geometry. Through the flushing process, powder can be replaced to control expansion and minimize deformation. For example, the high thermal expansion coefficient of silica sand may be suitable for some materials, but in other cases where a lower thermal expansion coefficient is required, ceramic sand may be a more suitable choice.
Currently, this technology is mainly provided on demand through ExOne’s adoption center in the United States. But the company said it hopes to expand these functions to Europe in the near future, and may cooperate with partners as demand grows. ExOne is also working hard to further improve the adhesive solution through the next generation version, which will provide higher strength, finer resolution and higher temperature performance. (Source: Zhongguancun Online)
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Post time: Sep-28-2021