The durability of large-scale additive manufacturing composite molds

Ahmed Arabi Hassen, Robert Springfield, John Lindahl, Brian Post, Lonnie Love, Chad Duty, Uday Vaidya, Vlastimil Kunc, R. Byron Pipes

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) technology permits the rapid production of thermoplastic composite molds using a carbon fiber filled Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) thermoplastic. Demonstration tools (i.e. 0.965 m X 0.559 m X 0.152 m) for composite part fabrication have been printed, coated, and finished with a traditional tooling gel. We present validation results demonstrating the stability of thermoplastic printed molds for room temperature Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) processes. Arkema's Elium thermoplastic resin was investigated with a variety of reinforcement materials. Experimental results include dimensional characterization of the tool surface using laser scanning technique following demolding of 10 parts. Thermoplastic composite molds offer rapid production compared to traditionally built thermoset molds in that near-net deposition allows direct digital production of the net geometry at production rate of 40 kg/hr.

Original languageEnglish
StatePublished - 2016
Event3rd Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2016 - Anaheim, United States
Duration: Sep 26 2016Sep 29 2016

Conference

Conference3rd Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAnaheim
Period09/26/1609/29/16

Funding

Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. The authors gratefully acknowledge continuous support from TruDesign for their work on coatings and Techmer ES for their support on material development.

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