MULTI-PLANAR FIBER MATRIX TOOL-LESS PREFORM FOR RESIN INFUSION

• Main Authors: HANKS, Dennis J, LANPHERE GROSS, Gwen Marie, YAP, Hugh A, FRANKENBERY, Scott K, HOLLENSTEINER, William S, STEPHENSON, Benjamin J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 29.07.2020
• Subjects: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY; ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OFTHREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVEAGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING,STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A system 100 and method 200 for manufacturing composite parts has been developed which offers the ability to produce composite parts in an infusion resin process without the use of expensive preforms or tools. In addition, the methods of manufacturing composite parts described herein offer the ability to produce composite parts having complex structures without the need for complex tooling. The method of manufacturing and systems described herein typically include printing a part skeleton 120 using an additive manufacturing process followed by infusing the part skeleton 120 with resin 130 and curing the resin infused part skeleton 120 to form the composite part.