OPPORTUNITY

Materials can be customized by reinforcing them with rods, fibers, whiskers, and even large particles of a dissimilar material. Materials that include such enhancements are called composites. Glass fiber accounts for about 90% of the reinforcements used in composite consumption, globally. Fiber-reinforced composites are composed of axial particulates embedded in a matrix material and are widely used across many industries. Composite materials are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. Most composites have strong, stiff fibers in a matrix which is weaker and less stiff. The objective of fiber-reinforced composites is to obtain a material with high specific strength and high specific modulus. High-strength, lightweight fiber reinforced polymer composites have been widely used in defense and aerospace systems for many years and have been used more recently in luxury automobiles, wind turbines, and compressed gas storage tanks. Advanced carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer composites are particularly promising materials for applications in industry and clean energy. Carbon fibers have gained an immense importance in a range of applications in industrial sectors such as wind energy, automotive, civil engineering, pressure vessels as well as in aerospace and military, motorsports and other sporting goods because of their superior characteristics like enhanced stiffness and tensile strength, low weight, improved chemical resistance and temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. Industries with high growth potential for carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and intern carbon fibers include automotive, wind energy, aerospace and defense, offshore oil and gas applications and composite pressure vessels.

BREAKTHROUGH IN COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Inventors at the University of South Alabama have developed a unique method to align nanofibers and long-chain polymers in any fabric or porous media along the Z-axis. To date, there is no other successful and repeatable method to accomplish this. This control of fiber alignment is important for adjusting the thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of a composite. The concept uses at least one hollow, perforated roller disposed longitudinally within a bath of liquids containing the fibers, and the matrix material to be impregnated is moved across the rollers. Importantly, the inventors believe this technology is particularly suitable to 3D printing in the form of a novel printing head for z-direction reinforced composite printing.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

•  Suitable for z-direction reinforced composite printing

•  Enhanced strength to weight ratio

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STATUS

Patent filed