3D Printed Composites for End-Use Components

A new 3D printing technology could bring 3D printed high performance parts to industries that need end use parts on a super-short development cycle.

In the aerospace, robotics, auto-racing and medical markets, composite materials can be the difference between a product that succeeds or fails.

While 3D printing has been a viable option for prototyping designs for these markets, the technology hasn’t been able to produce high-quality, end use composite parts. That is until now.

Enter Nathan Armstrong’s Freespace Composites.

The biggest drawback to today’s 3D printed composites is that they’re created with discontinuous reinforcement fibers.  That means any 3D printed composite has the potential for catastrophic structural failure. To resolve this issue, Armstrong has developed a new 3D printing technique that would build continuously reinforced components in free space using a 6-axis “printer”.

According to Armstrong, his technology  “employs a proprietary process that uses carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic filament that is placed optimally and continuously using a 6-axis printer system in “free space” that allows the machine to produce a continuous fiber structure.”

Additionally, Freespace’s machine would utilize a “feedback loop” to iterate and optimize the structural design of a component. “The design process for this system starts in a standard structural optimization software package. The available working volume plus performance parameters are the only input. The result of the optimization process is then is fed into proprietary “feedback loop” software that iteratively calculates part optimization vs. possible fiber placement to make the part manufacturable... Once this feedback loop process is complete, the 3-D printing process can begin.”

While Freespace Composite’s technology is currently in the development phase, the company’s technology might signal a major advance for future 3D printing applications. If reliable end-use composites can be produced quickly, designers will be free to build anything from experimental aerodynamics to bespoke medical devices that have the same properties found in today’s advanced composites.  That ability alone would likely draw considerable interest for 3D printing across a wide spectrum of industries.

Freespace Composites expect their technology to be market ready in the next three to five years.  The company is currently seeking financial and software support for the project.