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Pioneering the Additive Manufacturing Revolution in the Aerospace and Avionics fields

CRP Technology has been among the first to import additive manufacturing technology to Europe, and has developed the Windform® TOP-LINE family of composite materials.

They are some of the international market’s most high-performance Carbon- or Glass- composite laser sintering materials, in use for more than 20 years in the aerospace, UAV, defense, avionics markets for the most demanding applications.

Therefore it is unquestionable that CRP Technology has been changing the rules of additive manufacturing, smashing records and setting models nowadays that apply to 3D printing with polyamide materials.

A clear sign of this continued performance is Windform® FR1 (FR stands for Flame Retardant), the new-born material from the Windform® TOP-LINE family of composite materials for additive manufacturing.

It is intended to become a game-changing material in the field of 3D printing for its uniqueness: it is the first Flame Retardant (UL 94 V-0 rated) material for additive manufacturing which is carbon fiber reinforced.

It is also passed the FAR 25.853 flammability tests successfully as well as the 45° Bunsen burner test.

“Only a few weeks from the launch of a new range of Windform® materials, the P-LINE for HSS technology,” commented Franco Cevolini, VP and CTO at CRP Technology. “I’m very proud to introduce a new revolutionary composite material from the Windform® TOP-LINE family of materials for laser sintering technology. Our aim is to constantly produce technological breakthroughs. With Windform® FR1 we can steer you toward the proper solution for your projects.”

Franco Cevolini. Ph©Elisabetta Baracchi

“I’m firmly committed to solving one of the most important challenges, maybe the main one, for people who work in the 3D printing field “– added Cevolini – “the ability to ensure the performance and reliability of the AM process and materials. At CRP Technology and CRP USA we work extremely hard to control our process. We do testing on both equipment and materials on a regular basis. This kind of effort lets our customers understand that we are not just cranking out parts like a traditional rapid prototyping service bureau.”

Someone could say this technology and materials are expensive, but it is not correct especially in a long-term perspective. It is proven that using professional 3D printing and Windform® composite materials produce substantial cost savings considering the whole process performance.

“With professional 3D printing and Windform®” commented Cevolini – “the manufacturing process, from the design phase to product development, is optimized. Quality is not a cost, it is an investment”.

Aerospace and Avionics application spotlight

Not only the new-born Windform® FR1 material, but all the Windform® materials allow manufacturing of functional prototypes as well as finished, high-performance functional parts.

“Windform® materials from the TOP-LINE range of composite materials have some unique properties. Let’s consider, for example, Windform® XT 2.0: resistance to UV, low outgassing and its lightweight versus strength are some of the key characteristics that allow for it to replace a traditional material like Aluminium in some applications.”

The freedom of additive manufacturing allows the creation of more complex geometry, especially in the aerospace field.

TuPOD deployed © JAXA NASA

Recently CRP USA , the U.S.-based 3D printing company partnered with CRP Technology, contributed to mark a new milestone in the small satellites arena with TuPOD, the innovative cubesat manufactured via laser sintering in Windform® XT 2.0. This ground breaking project was carried out by GAUSS, Teton Aerospace, Morehead State University. From a distance, the TuPOD looks relatively simple, but upon closer examination there are some areas in the design that would have been more difficult to accomplish with traditional manufacturing methods. 

The significant performance of Windform® is creating new ways to invent and manufacture, while it is proving to be a viable option for the innovative design and high-performance features associated with advanced Aerospace applications.

“Leveraging 3D printing and Windform® composite materials properly has been a key advantage that our customers in the Space Industry have quickly adapted to. Whether it is entire structures or smaller components, we have been amazed at the creativity. The time to produce the parts is often dramatically less than through traditional methods.”

Progress has been also made in the avionics field: recently Windform® composite materials combined with laser sintering technology, have been used to manufacture some external parts of the wind tunnel model in 1:8.5 scale for the prototype of the new Leonardo Helicopter Division tiltrotor AW609, for a series of dedicated low-speed wind tunnel tests. (Designed, manufactured and assembled by Metaltech S.r.l., under supervision of Leonardo HD).

Tiltrotor-AW609. Courtesy Leonardo HD

These 3D printed parts highlight the perfect union between advanced 3D printing technology and Windform® high-performance composite materials. Thanks to the Windform® materials, it was possible to complete and test the model in the wind tunnel within a very short time, with excellent results and with high-performing mechanical and aerodynamic properties.

The 3D printed parts have been created by CRP Technology using Windform® XT 2.0 are nose and cockpit, rear fuselage, nacelles, external fuel tanks and fairings.

CRP USA also contributed to demonstrate the effectiveness of additive manufacturing and use of Windform® as a structural material for avionics applications: on behalf of Leonardo HD and under the control of ATI Co. – Newport News (the model supplier), CRP USA manufactured via laser sintering and Windform, the external fuselage and additional components for a new 1:6 model.

It was created for a high-speed wind tunnel test campaign at NASA Ames Unitary Plan 11 by 11 foot transonic wind tunnel, as part of a thorough review of aircraft behavior. 

The model scale selected was 1:6 of the full scale in order to be fully compatible within the given constraints of the physical size of the NASA 11 by 11 tunnel.

The architecture of the new 1:6 model for transonic high-speed tests was very similar to the AW609 model but with some improvements in order to have the remote controls for the flaperons and elevator surfaces.

For the first time the Windform® XT 2.0 Carbon-composite material was used for an high speed model tested at NASA AMES facility.

Windform® TOP-LINE family of high-performance composite materials have passed NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) outgassing screening, suitable for aerospace applications: 

  • Windform® XT 2.0, Windform® SP both carbon-composite materials; Windform® LX 3.0, Windform® GT both glass-composite materials: have been tested in accordance to the ASTM E-595-07 standard, and passed with no issues
  • Windform® XT 2.0 carbon-composite material: has been passed ESA screening outgassing tests in accordance with ESA TEC-QTE 7171 (based on ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C); it has been K-rated according to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) outgassing test.

In addition:

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AREVO Partners With Franco Bicycles to Make 3D Printed Carbon Fiber Frames

AREVO is a Khosla backed, well funded, startup that uses a six-axis robot arm to extrude composites for manufacturing. The company has since inception spoken of breakthrough materials and applications such as carbon nanotube reinforced composites with a specific focus on printing bike frames. Now the firm has partnered with Franco Bicycles to make frames for their Emery brand. The Emery One eBike will have a unibody frame 3D printed out of continuous carbon fiber. Continuous carbon has higher strength than the more easily available short carbon fiber and indeed few firms such as Markforged, the US Army, Impossible Objects, moi, and Continuous Carbon are experimenting with this interesting technology. CFRP polymer parts have a high strength to weight ratio and of all the Continuous Fiber Reinforced Polymer materials Carbon Fiber is king. Used in anything from sunglasses to F1 and now passenger cars carbon fiber is a cool and exciting material. The material is already extensively used in bike frames extensively but with lots of manual labor required optimizing carbon fiber processing could make it more commonplace. In addition to cars and bicycles, fiber reinforced parts have an important role in aerospace and other high tech manufacturing and the material is ever expanding.

This is exactly what AREVO wants to do. The company offers a generative design platform and says it can do, “virtually void-free construction…optimized for anisotropic composite materials.” The firm says that the time to part from the idea to a final bike frame is significantly faster than with traditional hand layup composites and says that its frame consists of only one part not “many parts glued together.” Traditionally manufactured the frame would have consisted of 27 parts. This part reduction would also reduce stock and assembly costs significantly. They also tout their lower overal product development costs.

Hector Rodriguez, Co-Founder of Emery Bikes:

“We chose AREVO technology because its iterative and flexible design represents the new age in composites manufacturing, and we wanted to be the first bike company to help lead this revolution, AREVO’s continuous carbon fiber technology has been instrumental in achieving the ride quality and high-performance requirements we set out to accomplish with the Emery One.”

Hemant Bheda, AREVO Co-Founder and Chairman:

“This is the first Composite Additive-Manufactured bike frame and it represents an important milestone for the AM industry as AREVO is delivering on the promise of on-demand manufacturing of composite parts in volume now,.” “With the introduction of the Emery One, the transformation of the global composite bike industry has begun.”

The say that the main advantages of their technology as:

True serial, volume production of AM-made composite parts that are made with thermoplastic materials, which are tougher, durable and recyclable, as compared to brittle and non-recyclable thermoset materials

A replacement of a laborious manual process with a fully-automated, “lights out” production model

Delivering on the promise of localized manufacturing or “on-shoring,” which creates greater independence for bike brands

A much greater “freedom of design” for bike manufacturers that creates the possibility of fully-customized bikes made on an “on demand” basis, an approach AREVO calls “DESIGN. PRINT. GO.”

Brittle composites using thermosets are a big issue in bike frames. A several thousand dollar bike frame which is in and of itself very strong could shatter if it hit a curb. If the firm could equal the strength of traditional thermosets for thermoplastics the environmental benefits would be huge. Not only would parts last longer but their recycling would be more possible also. Current carbon fiber materials are impossible to recycle and pose a huge environmental burden. The materials used are also quite dangerous for man and planet and it would be good to see in what way AREVO could improve on this. True lights out production would radically cut costs as may local manufacturing while increased geometric freedom and on-demand production may radically alter the economics of bike making. This kind of technology could be a big threat for the mainly Taiwan based manufacturers of Carbon fiber bike frames. Unless of course, they develop a similar technology of their own. Carbon fiber bike frame manufacturing moved to Taiwan because under stricter environment and employee safety regulations in Europe the industry was pushed out. With good reason as well, the fibers, resins, processing chemicals could encompass many negative health effects for workers and their surroundings. To me, AREVO’s technology is possibly a hugely exciting one if they can prove that they can produce sustainable composites that can in some way be recycled. Industries such as automotive and aerospace are thinking of the end of life consequences of their parts while also trying to lose weight. If AREVO can demonstrate high strength to weight, less part brittleness, low environmental impact during production, long life and post use recycling then they could have a blockbuster technology on their hands.

You can see the Emery at booth S9 at the Sea Otter Classic bicycling event in Monterey, California, April 11 – 14.

 

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Comparing FDM 3D Printed Parts with Carbon Nanotubes, Continuous Carbon Fiber and Short Carbon Fiber

Fused deposition modeling, or FDM, 3D printing has several advantages – thermoplastics can be used, which are easy to handle and are strong and durable enough to be used for producing both prototypes and practical parts. Additionally, FDM 3D printers use a simple mechanism to melt and extrude resin that doesn’t need expensive parts, like lasers, which makes the machines less expensive. But, the technology does not always provide enough strength for mechanical parts.

That’s why additional materials with good mechanical properties, such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) and fiber reinforced composites, are often added to improve strength; depending on the length, carbon fiber can also be divided up into both short and continuous fiber. A group of researchers from Doshisha University and Kyoraku Co., Ltd., both in Japan, recently published a study, titled “Comparison of strength of 3D printing objects using short fiber and continuous long fiber,” that compared the usefulness and strength of objects 3D printed with short carbon fiber, continuous carbon fiber, and multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT).

The abstract reads, “In this research, composite materials were used to improve the strength of FDM 3D printed objects. The nanocomposites made from polylactic acid as matrix and multi-wall carbon nanotube as filler, short carbon fiber reinforced composite and continuous carbon fiber reinforced composite were prepared, and tensile test was carried out. As a result, the continuous fiber reinforced material exhibited tensile strength of about 7 times and elastic modulus about 5 times that of the other two materials. The strength was greatly improved by using the continuous fiber. The fracture surface after the test was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The result of observation shows that adhesion between the laminated layers and the relationship between the fiber and the matrix are bad, and improving these are necessary to increase strength. Comparing those materials, it is possible to improve the strength in some degree by using short fiber while maintaining ease of printing. On the other hand, by using continuous fiber it can be achieved significant strength improvement while printing was complicated.”

The fracture surface of PLA/MWCNT

To make their PLA/MWCNT nanocomposite, the researchers used polylactic material as a matrix, with MWCNT as a filler, and formed the material into a 1.75 mm filament. They used commercial ONYX, carbon fiber, and NYLON materials from Markforged to 3D print tensile test pieces from continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (continuous CFRTP) and short carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (short CFRTP).

“The specimen shape is different due to the limitation by the performance of the 3D printer,” the researchers wrote in the paper. “For PLA/MWCNT, smaller one was chosen to avoid warp and print quickly. The PLA/MWCNT has three outer walls and fills inside alternately at 45 degrees and -45 degrees.”

For the continuous CFRTP, carbon fibers oriented in the load direction were 3D printed in the center, while the outside was covered with either neat resin or short fiber reinforced composite; this last was used to 3D print the short CFRTP in the same manner as the PLA composite had been fabricate.

The researchers completed a tensile test on the pieces, and used a scanning electron microscope to observe images of the specimen’s fracture surface. They also looked at their stress and strain.

“In PLA/MWCNT, the stress increased almost linearly until fracture,” the paper explained. “The breaking strain was about 1 ~ 2%, and no stress reduction was occurred. Compared with neat PLA, the elastic modulus was not greatly improved but the tensile strength was improved and increased by 48% when 1wt% of MWCNT is added. In that case, the tensile strength was 53 MPa and the Young’s modulus was 3 GPa. Until 1 wt%, the tensile strength was improved as more CNT is added, but strength was decreased when 3wt% was added. It is because the aggregation of MWCNT. The aggregations are considered to act as internal defects of the material.”

Aggregates and voids

When more MWCNT was added, the number of aggregates increased. The researchers found that the relationship between the fiber and the matrix, along with adhesion between the laminated layers, was not good – when these are improved, the strength will increase. Significant strength improvements can be achieved by using continuous fiber, but the 3D printing process is complicated, and it’s necessary to use modified equipment, such as a special nozzle. But short fiber is easier to print, and still offers some degree of improved strength.

“The short CFRTP and PLA/MWCNT are inferior in mechanical properties compared to the continuous. But they can be printed with conventional 3D printers without special modifying,” the researchers explained. “Especially the nanocomposites demonstrate its effect by adding a small amount. The mass concentration of fiber was 35.7 wt% for continuous CFRTP and 14.3 wt% for short CFRTP, but MWCNT was 3wt% or less. Generally, the smaller the amount of reinforcement, the more easy to print. In fact the PLA/MWCNT nanocomposite can be printed with commercially available 3D printer without special modified in this study. Continuous fiber and short fiber material should each have merits and demerits and should be used properly.”

The broken specimen (continuous CFRTP)

Co-authors of the paper are T. Isobe, T. Tanaka, T. Nomura, and R. Yuasa.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

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Stratasys Releases Dedicated Chopped Carbon Fiber Polyamide 3D Printer Fortus 380mc Carbon Fiber Edition

Stratasys/Team Penske Copyright: Scott R LePage

Stratasys today is launching a 3D printer specifically intended for carbon-fiber-filled Nylon 12. The Fortus 380mc Carbon Fiber Edition which we wrote about before will cost $70,000 in the US and is on sale now. Stratasys has offered carbon fiber 3D printing for a number of years now but only on systems priced above $200,000.

Stratasys Senior Vice President of Sales, Pat Carey says of the move,

“They’ve told us they want an affordable solution but in a reliable, industrial-quality system. So we’re now offering a more accessible system that’s based on our Fortus 380mc platform. Because the 380mc CFE is dedicated only to carbon-fiber-filled Nylon 12 and one other material, we’re able to currently offer it at the lowest price for any of our industrial printers.”

Stratasys describes the applications of the material as

“Stratasys expects the quickest adopters of its Fortus 380 CFE 3D Printer to be those making tooling and fixtures and those in industries that include Automotive; Recreational Sporting Equipment; Marine; Orthosis and Prosthesis; Defense; Aerospace; Medical Equipment; Oil and Gas.Similar to a typical injection molded carbon fiber reinforced plastic part, Stratasys Nylon 12CF is 35 percent chopped carbon fiber by weight, and it exhibits the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio of any FDM or FFF 3D printed part.”

“Stratasys Nylon 12CF is up to four times stronger than a competitively priced alternative in the X and Y axis, and it will maintain its mechanical properties at a 40 percent higher temperature. The Fortus 380mc CFE is between two and five times faster than the competitively priced carbon-fiber-based 3D printer.”

“Parts don’t exhibit appreciable warpage or shrinkage and will hold to
a tight tolerance. “

“The Fortus 380 CFE builds parts in 0.010 in. (0.254 mm) layer thickness. The system is also compatible with ASA thermoplastic, for which is can build in either 0.010 or .005 in. (0.127 mm) layer thicknesses. The 3D printer’s build chamber measures 14 x 12 x 12 in. (355 x 305 x 305 mm). It offers water-soluble support material removal, which eliminates the need for manual labor to remove the supports.

Terry Wohlers of Wohlers Associates says,

“For many years, the additive manufacturing industry has seen a need for a diversity of
machines that produce parts in high-strength composite materials, I’m hopeful the newest
machine from Stratasys will help to meet this need by offering strong parts in carbon fiber
and Nylon 12.”

IndyCar and NASCAR Examples 

Team Penske, an IndyCar and NASCAR team makes prototypes and end-use parts from carbon-fiber-filled Nylon 12. Lightweight mirrors were made of the material and used in racing. Lightweight 3D printed mirrors is actually a tried and true application that has been tested and used across many racing series. It is also sometimes a bit of a crib since race teams feel comfortable talking about mirrors and their associated geometries. Meanwhile, they usually use the technology for other parts of the car that they are less open about discussing especially the more angelic teams. Racing itself is an exciting area, especially one for showcasing your products. It is also the gateway drug to the automotive industry. Upon reading the press release this was the first thought that came to mind along with, is this the Innovator’s Dilemma again as well as MarkForged must sure be doing well.

Stratasys/Team Penske
Monday 18 December 2017
Copyright: Scott R LePage

MarkForged

MarkForged has a continuous composite 3D printer that should produce strong parts but may tend to be more limited in design freedom. The company has pitched to the car industry from the beginning and is finding clients, growth and customers there. With Porsche on board as an investor, the erstwhile small company’s growth is vexing perhaps to Stratasys. Perhaps the firm is trying to toy with MarkForged’s inertia until its own High-Speed Sintering technology is ready for automotive? Stratasys is also a Desktop Metal investor and that company has sued MarkForged over patents related to metal printing, which MarkForged is also engaged with. Although this would be a tempting conclusion I think that there is much bigger game afoot.

Innovator’s Dilemma

Invented FDM as a technology and commercialized it, this is now used by over 500 or so startups worldwide clamoring for market share and growth. In the long run rather than one venture-backed firm I think that this hardscrabble open ecosystem is what could be a competitive threat to Stratasys. To place obstacles in between oneself’s profit centers and the oncoming hordes seems like a wise decision. The release of the competitively prices 123 systems from Stratasys and below this, the Makerbot printers are a testimony to this. Essentially I believe that Stratasys is trying to delay the competition by at several hereto noncontested price points place interesting propositions for companies willing to industrialize 3D printing for manufacturing. Bizarrely a few years ago there were barely any functional parts capable 3D printers between the price point of $2000 and $5000 and none between $20,000 and $100,000. So Stratasys is filling out its product line up in order to motivate companies to partner with it now for the long run. This is a crucial time in 3D printing because many firms are certifying parts, qualifying parts and going into production for the first time. There is also the Troop of Gorillas. These soft and gentle giants munch on leaf after leaf and just want to make the world a better place through plastics.

Polyamide  

Polyamide is a huge market and a material that is used in many industrial applications. The Troop of Gorillas consists of a dozen or so chemicals and polymer companies each doing billions in revenue. A few of these, namely, Evonik, Arkema, DSM, Dow, BASF and Sabic have a lot of polyamide capacity and are active in investing in polyamide high-performance materials. These materials are subject to higher heat deflection, continuous service temperature and strength than existing materials. They also let these companies sell a reformulated version of existing capacity at an elevated price point. These companies would be more than happy to invest in significant revenue for the long term for their materials. PPA’s or high-performance polyamides will be a battleground in many applications in the years to come, a big win in volume for 3D printed automotive would be huge for each of these firms. Indeed, I still believe that BASF’s high interest in 3D printing stems mainly for it to be a source of next-generation PPA’s. So what application and industry will give us the biggest volumes the soonest?

Automotive

Impact, wear, stiffness and overall familiarity that components manufacturers have with the Polyamide (Nylon 12) material is driving adoption of this material in automotive. It has been used for a long time in prototyping and for small production runs. The material has been used in bridge manufacturing by companies such as CRP and the automotive companies have considerable expertise in it. Especially the divergent parts of the Volkswagen group and BWM. PPA’s are high performance enough to be used inside the engine bays, inside the cabin on exterior parts and throughout the supply chain in tooling, jigs, and fixtures. They’re more expensive than bulk and engineering plastics but often cheaper than ultra high-performance materials such as PEEK and PEI. They’re also far easier to use than those materials. So a new high-performance niche which is usable at volume is emerging. And the players in this niche have a fundamental choice between partnering up now to industrialize for the next decades. Its a game of musical chairs.

Fortus 380CF

Musical Chairs 

And in the musical chairs game, there is a choice between the future performance of open systems and the current performance of Stratasys systems. Closed Stratasys systems that do not permit you to use any outside materials are more reliable with higher repeatability at this point. Open systems have lower reliability but much lower costs. This machine introduction, therefore, seems aimed squarely at introducing 3D printing in manufacturing for automotive. This is a system that universities can afford so that they can do research on these carbon fiber materials. This system an alternative to high-temperature printers that are emerging around the same price point for PEEK and PEI. These systems will be cheaper to buy but the part cost will be higher than with carbon fiber filled polyamide. Stratasys is, therefore, positioning this as an alternative to MarkForged, high-temperature systems, existing powder bed fusion systems and the promise of open systems in the future. You know us, you trust us, here is something that you can buy today. Vis a vis powder bed fusion FDM has a clear advantage in large singular parts and flat parts while SLS may be better for many thousands of small parts (this is geometry and size dependent). I think that this is a smart move to position this now for production at a lower price point with more acceptible part costs for automotive. In the coming year or two, the game of musical chairs in automotive will be played with partners for materials and production found. And once the music stops, the game will be over.