With the joint efforts of Thermwood Corporation, Applied Composite Engineering ('ACE'), Techmer PM, and the Complex Materials Manufacturing and Simulation Center at Purdue University, a composite helicopter component has been fabricated on a 3D printed poly Sulfone (PSU) molds are produced.
Using Carbon Fiber Reinforcement from Techmer PM, the mold was printed on a large Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) machine from Thermwood Corp. Using the 3D printing mold, the ACE uses a normal manufacturing process in an autoclave Produced helicopter parts.
Although polysulfone (PSU) is the ideal material for this application, these partners believe this is the first time that polysulfone (PSU) has been used in 3D printing due to the processing temperature of polysulfone (PSU) and the required twisting The force is higher than the extrusion requirements of common polymers, so the printheads on extruders and LSAM devices have been specifically designed to meet ultra-high temperature, high torque operating requirements.
By eliminating the need for special coatings in addition to normal mold preparation and mold release, these partners believe that this particular polysulfone (PSU) formulation, with a glass transition temperature of 372 ° F (about 188.9 ° C) ° F (about 176.7 ° C), a temperature that is sufficient to process about 95% of today's composite parts.
The partners also need to do some testing to determine the suitability and durability of the material at this temperature and they also plan to evaluate polyethersulfone (PES) because polyethersulfone (PES) Temperature processing and operation.
Most recently, the polysulfone (PSU) mold and the parts it produces were demonstrated at the AM 2017 Additive Manufacturing Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Comparison with traditional methods
Another interesting aspect of this collaboration is that the ACE made molds for the same part using traditional methods and compared the cost-and-time-of-manufacture with additive-made molds and the results were astounding.
Additive material manufacturing cost is reduced by 34%, and the required production time is significantly shorter.Addition to the molds made in just 3 days to complete the construction, while the traditional method of mold production requires 8 days.If the larger parts, There is also a need to add support structures to traditional molds, which in turn adds up to two days compared to the larger additive manufacturing molds that do not require a support structure.
The goal of this collaboration is to develop the materials and processes necessary to efficiently and reliably produce 3D composite molds for production so that 3D printed molds can operate at elevated temperatures in autoclaves. Preliminary results show that they It is getting closer to this goal.