Rapid manufacturing of tailored preforms

Patent · Tue May 10 04:00:00 EDT 2022

OSTI ID:1892907

Kunc, Vlastimil; Blue, Craig A.; Hassen, Ahmed A.; Lindahl, John M.; Love, Lonnie J.; Post, Brian K.

A method for rapid manufacturing of three dimensional discontinuous fiber preforms is provided. The method includes the deposition of a polymeric material containing fibers on a surface to form a tailored charge for compression molding. The reinforced polymeric material may be a thermoplastic or a reactive polymer with viscosity low enough to allow flow through an orifice during deposition, yet high enough zero shear viscosity to retain the approximate shape of the deposited charge. The material can be deposited in a predetermined pattern to induce the desired mechanical properties through alignment of the fibers. This deposition can be performed in a single layer or in multiple layers. The alignment is achieved passively by shear alignment of the fibers or actively through fiber orientation control or mixing. The fibers can be of the desired material, length, and morphology, including short and long filaments.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC (Oak Ridge, TN)
• Patent Number(s): 11,325,281
• Application Number: 16/519,746
• OSTI ID: 1892907
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English