3D Printing – Daniel J. Braley, Anthony M. Tamayo, Eric G. Barnes, Northrop Grumman Systems Corp
Abstract for “Continuous filament filament for fused-deposition modeling (FDM), additive manufactured (AM), structures”
“A method and system for making a uniform continuous fiber filament. The system and method consist of a fiber tube with an axial magnet attached at one end of the fiber tube, a polymer tub, and a circular magnet that fits around the circumference of this polymer tube. To create the continuous continuous fiber filament, the fiber tow is fed through the polymer tube by magnetic forces using both axial and radial magnets.
Background for “Continuous filament filament for fused-deposition modeling (FDM), additive manufactured (AM), structures”
Field
“This invention is generally a system and method to create continuous fiber filaments for fused-deposition modeling (FDM), additive manufactured (AM), structures, and more specifically, a system for feeding a continuous tw into a polymer tub and heating the tube to melt the polymer tube to fuse it to the continuous tw to make a 3D printable continuous fiber filament.
“Discussion”
Fused filament fabrication (FFF), also known by fused deposition modelling (FDM), can be used to 3D print. It is an additive manufacturing technology. FDM involves layering material from a spool that is fed into a heated 3D printer’s nozzle to create the desired product. FDM uses software that processes an STL (a stereolithography file format). It includes mathematically slicing, orienting, and building the product layer-by-layer. Layer by layer support structures can also be constructed using a second material spool. For example, a soluble material could be added to the second material spool in order to create a soluble support structure. The heated nozzle heats the material, and it moltens. The molten material will immediately harden upon ejection.
FDM can be made from many materials including polylactic acid (PLA), polycarbonate [PC], polyamide (PA), and polystyrene (?PS?), as well as acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene styrene, polylactic acid (ABS), polylactic acids (PLA), Polylactic acid (PLA), plasticine, plasticine, and room temperature vulcanizations (RTV), silicone. The material chosen is usually selected to improve the structural properties of 3D printed products. Sometimes, the material is referred to by other names such as continuous fiber filament and fiber tow.
The best way to make a continuous fiber filament is to run the fiber tow through a bath with the molten resin, and then allow the resin to harden around it. This is possible with an extrusion setup, which heats a resin bath and allows the fiber to be spooled. These systems and processes can be expensive and time-consuming. The process is also difficult to control, and the resin hardens around fibers, so the continuous fiber filaments created are not uniform. There is a need to develop a method that can reliably create uniform continuous fibre filaments suitable for FDM AM structures. This will eliminate the need to purchase known continuous filaments, which are costly, time-consuming to make, and lack uniformity.
“A method and system for making a uniform continuous fiber filament is disclosed. The system and method consist of a fiber tube with an axial magnet attached at one end of the fiber tube, a polymer tub, and a circular magnet that fits around the circumference of this polymer tube. To create the continuous fiber filament, the fiber tow is fed through the polymer tube by magnetic forces using both axial and radial magnets.
“Additional features” of the invention will be apparent in the following description and the appended claims. These should be read along with the accompanying illustrations.
The following description of the embodiments of an invention directed at a system and method to create a continuous fibre filament is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the invention’s applications or uses. The system and method can be used to make continuous fiber filaments for FDM (additive manufacturing) (AM), but the system described herein could be used to make any type of continuous filament.
“FIG. “FIG. You can choose from a wide range of materials, and/or combinations thereof, the fiber tow 12 or the polymer tube 14. The fiber tow 12 could be made from one or more of the following materials: E-glass, S?glass, carbon fibre, aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers (UHMWPE), Dyneema ST17 and others. For example, the polymer tube 14 could be any suitable thermoplastic like polyether ether ketones (PEK), polyetherketone ketones (PEKK), UItem or polyethylene. To allow fiber tow 12 into the polymer tubes 14, the outer diameter of the fiber tube 12 must be smaller than the inner diameter. An axial magnet 16 attaches to the end of the fiber tw 12, pulling the fiber tow12 towards a radial magnetic 18 by using magnetic forces. The radial magnet 18 is placed around the circumference 14 of the polymer tubes 14 and pulled around the polymer tubes 14 to draw the magnet 16 and fiber tow 12 through it to form a continuous filament. The radial magnet 18, however, can be any design that is capable drawing the axial magnet 16 or the fiber tow 12 through a polymer tube 14.
“FIG. “FIG. 1. A motor 44 pulls the continuous fiber filament 20 from the 32 spool and winds the filament 20 onto a 42 spool. Motor 44 can be any motor suitable for the job, such as a stepper or stepper motor. The speed controller 40 regulates the motor 44 so that the filament 20 is pulled at a preset uniform tension and speed. The tension and speed are determined by a number of factors including the fiber tow 12, material of the polymer tubes 14 and heating temperature.
“Returning at FIG. “Returning to FIG. The temperature and current control 36 regulates the temperature of heating sub-system34 to reach a predetermined temperature. This is done by using temperature signals from thermocouples38, which are located at predetermined intervals along sub-system34. These thermocouples 38 provide temperature signals to enable the heater 24 to supply the required current and voltage to reach the desired temperature. The continuous fiber filament 20 can be considered wetted once the polymer tube 14 has been uniformly melted onto fiber tow 12. After being uniformly wetted, the continuous fiber filament 20 cools down and is wound onto a spool 42.
“FIG. 4. This is an isometric view showing an FDM 3D printer 50 which may be used for fabricating a product 62 from the wetted continuous fibre filament 20. The continuous fiber filament 20 has been wound on the 42-inch spool of FIG. 4 to fabricate the product. 2, is fed into the first head 72 of the dual extrusion heads and nozzle assemblies 56. A strand 66 from a support material spool 52 can be fed into the second head 70 of assembly 56. A dual extrusion and nozzle assembly 56 are used in this example. However, it is possible to use a single or multiple extrusion heads FDM 3D printers. The dual extrusion head 56 and build platform 58 are placed directly below each other. The FDM 3D Printer 50 has the ability to build products. A computing device 74 is also programmed to control it 50. It can create product 62 from continuous fiber filament 20, and a support structure 64 from strand 66.
The continuous fiber filament 20 can be made into strong products because it adheres well to itself when it is built layer by layer with the FDM3D printer 50. The continuous fiber filament 20 can be used to make a wide range of products with high strength characteristics. These may include aircraft wings, fuselage skins and internal aerospace components such as radomes, antenna structures, clips or brackets.
“FIG. “FIG. Box 82 contains the continuous fiber tube 12 and the 14-plymer tube. As mentioned above, the inner diameter of the polymer tube 14 is slightly larger that the continuous fiber tow 12. The axial magnet 16 can be attached to the continuous fibre tow 12 at box 84 by using adhesives such as glue, rubber cement or double stick tape. To ensure that the fiber tube 14 with the attached axial magnet 16 can be fed into it, the outer diameter of the axial magnet16 is smaller than that of the polymer tub 14.
The radial magnet 18 is then pulled along and around the polymer tubes 14 for at least a portion the length of its outer surface. This will feed the axial magnet 16 as well as the fiber tow 12 through polymer tube 14. Box 86. The radial magnetic 18 must have an inner diameter greater than that of the polymer tubes 14 to be pulled around and around the polymer tubes 14. However, the radial mag 18 can be configured in any way and pulled along the polymer tubes 14 in any way that will pull the axial magnet 16 through the polymer tub 14. It may not be necessary for the radial magnetic 18 to fit around the entire polymer tube 14.
“The temperature controller 36 regulates the current needed to heat the copper tube 22, of the heating subsystem 34 to a predetermined temperature by using temperature signals from at minimum one of the thermocouples38 at box 88. The constant temperature of the copper tub 22 has been reached at the box 88. Next, the continuous filament 20 is passed through the copper tube 22, at box 90. This allows the polymer tube 14 to melt onto the fiber tow 12, and uniformly wets the continuous fibre filament 20. The temperature and current control 36 adjusts the temperature and current as necessary at box 90 to maintain the melting temperature of the polymer tub 14. This allows the continuous fiber filament 20 to be soaked with the polymer from the tube 14 uniformly without trapping air. The uniformly wet continuous fiber filament 20 is wound onto a spool 42 at box 92 using the motor 44, speed controller 40 and previously described. The spool 42 in the box 92 can be used for 3D printing to create many products.
The continuous fiber filament 20 can be made in minutes to hours by using the process and system described above. There are many combinations of the fiber tow 12, the polymer tube 14, and other components that can be used to make the continuous filament 20, so a wide range of 3D printed continuous fiber filaments 20 could be created by the system and procedure described herein.
“Those skilled in the art will understand that the many and varied steps and processes described herein may refer to operations performed on a computer, processor, or other electronic calculating device that manipulates and/or transforms data using electrical phenomena. These electronic devices and computers may use volatile and/or involatile memories, including non-transitory computer readable mediums with executable programs. The executable program may contain code or instructions that can be executed by the processor or computer. Other types of computer-readable media may also be used.
“The above discussion describes and discloses only exemplary embodiments for the present invention. Any one skilled in the art can easily recognize from this discussion, as well as the accompanying drawings or claims, that there are many modifications, variations and changes that may be made without departing from its spirit and scope.
Summary for “Continuous filament filament for fused-deposition modeling (FDM), additive manufactured (AM), structures”
Field
“This invention is generally a system and method to create continuous fiber filaments for fused-deposition modeling (FDM), additive manufactured (AM), structures, and more specifically, a system for feeding a continuous tw into a polymer tub and heating the tube to melt the polymer tube to fuse it to the continuous tw to make a 3D printable continuous fiber filament.
“Discussion”
Fused filament fabrication (FFF), also known by fused deposition modelling (FDM), can be used to 3D print. It is an additive manufacturing technology. FDM involves layering material from a spool that is fed into a heated 3D printer’s nozzle to create the desired product. FDM uses software that processes an STL (a stereolithography file format). It includes mathematically slicing, orienting, and building the product layer-by-layer. Layer by layer support structures can also be constructed using a second material spool. For example, a soluble material could be added to the second material spool in order to create a soluble support structure. The heated nozzle heats the material, and it moltens. The molten material will immediately harden upon ejection.
FDM can be made from many materials including polylactic acid (PLA), polycarbonate [PC], polyamide (PA), and polystyrene (?PS?), as well as acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene styrene, polylactic acid (ABS), polylactic acids (PLA), Polylactic acid (PLA), plasticine, plasticine, and room temperature vulcanizations (RTV), silicone. The material chosen is usually selected to improve the structural properties of 3D printed products. Sometimes, the material is referred to by other names such as continuous fiber filament and fiber tow.
The best way to make a continuous fiber filament is to run the fiber tow through a bath with the molten resin, and then allow the resin to harden around it. This is possible with an extrusion setup, which heats a resin bath and allows the fiber to be spooled. These systems and processes can be expensive and time-consuming. The process is also difficult to control, and the resin hardens around fibers, so the continuous fiber filaments created are not uniform. There is a need to develop a method that can reliably create uniform continuous fibre filaments suitable for FDM AM structures. This will eliminate the need to purchase known continuous filaments, which are costly, time-consuming to make, and lack uniformity.
“A method and system for making a uniform continuous fiber filament is disclosed. The system and method consist of a fiber tube with an axial magnet attached at one end of the fiber tube, a polymer tub, and a circular magnet that fits around the circumference of this polymer tube. To create the continuous fiber filament, the fiber tow is fed through the polymer tube by magnetic forces using both axial and radial magnets.
“Additional features” of the invention will be apparent in the following description and the appended claims. These should be read along with the accompanying illustrations.
The following description of the embodiments of an invention directed at a system and method to create a continuous fibre filament is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the invention’s applications or uses. The system and method can be used to make continuous fiber filaments for FDM (additive manufacturing) (AM), but the system described herein could be used to make any type of continuous filament.
“FIG. “FIG. You can choose from a wide range of materials, and/or combinations thereof, the fiber tow 12 or the polymer tube 14. The fiber tow 12 could be made from one or more of the following materials: E-glass, S?glass, carbon fibre, aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers (UHMWPE), Dyneema ST17 and others. For example, the polymer tube 14 could be any suitable thermoplastic like polyether ether ketones (PEK), polyetherketone ketones (PEKK), UItem or polyethylene. To allow fiber tow 12 into the polymer tubes 14, the outer diameter of the fiber tube 12 must be smaller than the inner diameter. An axial magnet 16 attaches to the end of the fiber tw 12, pulling the fiber tow12 towards a radial magnetic 18 by using magnetic forces. The radial magnet 18 is placed around the circumference 14 of the polymer tubes 14 and pulled around the polymer tubes 14 to draw the magnet 16 and fiber tow 12 through it to form a continuous filament. The radial magnet 18, however, can be any design that is capable drawing the axial magnet 16 or the fiber tow 12 through a polymer tube 14.
“FIG. “FIG. 1. A motor 44 pulls the continuous fiber filament 20 from the 32 spool and winds the filament 20 onto a 42 spool. Motor 44 can be any motor suitable for the job, such as a stepper or stepper motor. The speed controller 40 regulates the motor 44 so that the filament 20 is pulled at a preset uniform tension and speed. The tension and speed are determined by a number of factors including the fiber tow 12, material of the polymer tubes 14 and heating temperature.
“Returning at FIG. “Returning to FIG. The temperature and current control 36 regulates the temperature of heating sub-system34 to reach a predetermined temperature. This is done by using temperature signals from thermocouples38, which are located at predetermined intervals along sub-system34. These thermocouples 38 provide temperature signals to enable the heater 24 to supply the required current and voltage to reach the desired temperature. The continuous fiber filament 20 can be considered wetted once the polymer tube 14 has been uniformly melted onto fiber tow 12. After being uniformly wetted, the continuous fiber filament 20 cools down and is wound onto a spool 42.
“FIG. 4. This is an isometric view showing an FDM 3D printer 50 which may be used for fabricating a product 62 from the wetted continuous fibre filament 20. The continuous fiber filament 20 has been wound on the 42-inch spool of FIG. 4 to fabricate the product. 2, is fed into the first head 72 of the dual extrusion heads and nozzle assemblies 56. A strand 66 from a support material spool 52 can be fed into the second head 70 of assembly 56. A dual extrusion and nozzle assembly 56 are used in this example. However, it is possible to use a single or multiple extrusion heads FDM 3D printers. The dual extrusion head 56 and build platform 58 are placed directly below each other. The FDM 3D Printer 50 has the ability to build products. A computing device 74 is also programmed to control it 50. It can create product 62 from continuous fiber filament 20, and a support structure 64 from strand 66.
The continuous fiber filament 20 can be made into strong products because it adheres well to itself when it is built layer by layer with the FDM3D printer 50. The continuous fiber filament 20 can be used to make a wide range of products with high strength characteristics. These may include aircraft wings, fuselage skins and internal aerospace components such as radomes, antenna structures, clips or brackets.
“FIG. “FIG. Box 82 contains the continuous fiber tube 12 and the 14-plymer tube. As mentioned above, the inner diameter of the polymer tube 14 is slightly larger that the continuous fiber tow 12. The axial magnet 16 can be attached to the continuous fibre tow 12 at box 84 by using adhesives such as glue, rubber cement or double stick tape. To ensure that the fiber tube 14 with the attached axial magnet 16 can be fed into it, the outer diameter of the axial magnet16 is smaller than that of the polymer tub 14.
The radial magnet 18 is then pulled along and around the polymer tubes 14 for at least a portion the length of its outer surface. This will feed the axial magnet 16 as well as the fiber tow 12 through polymer tube 14. Box 86. The radial magnetic 18 must have an inner diameter greater than that of the polymer tubes 14 to be pulled around and around the polymer tubes 14. However, the radial mag 18 can be configured in any way and pulled along the polymer tubes 14 in any way that will pull the axial magnet 16 through the polymer tub 14. It may not be necessary for the radial magnetic 18 to fit around the entire polymer tube 14.
“The temperature controller 36 regulates the current needed to heat the copper tube 22, of the heating subsystem 34 to a predetermined temperature by using temperature signals from at minimum one of the thermocouples38 at box 88. The constant temperature of the copper tub 22 has been reached at the box 88. Next, the continuous filament 20 is passed through the copper tube 22, at box 90. This allows the polymer tube 14 to melt onto the fiber tow 12, and uniformly wets the continuous fibre filament 20. The temperature and current control 36 adjusts the temperature and current as necessary at box 90 to maintain the melting temperature of the polymer tub 14. This allows the continuous fiber filament 20 to be soaked with the polymer from the tube 14 uniformly without trapping air. The uniformly wet continuous fiber filament 20 is wound onto a spool 42 at box 92 using the motor 44, speed controller 40 and previously described. The spool 42 in the box 92 can be used for 3D printing to create many products.
The continuous fiber filament 20 can be made in minutes to hours by using the process and system described above. There are many combinations of the fiber tow 12, the polymer tube 14, and other components that can be used to make the continuous filament 20, so a wide range of 3D printed continuous fiber filaments 20 could be created by the system and procedure described herein.
“Those skilled in the art will understand that the many and varied steps and processes described herein may refer to operations performed on a computer, processor, or other electronic calculating device that manipulates and/or transforms data using electrical phenomena. These electronic devices and computers may use volatile and/or involatile memories, including non-transitory computer readable mediums with executable programs. The executable program may contain code or instructions that can be executed by the processor or computer. Other types of computer-readable media may also be used.
“The above discussion describes and discloses only exemplary embodiments for the present invention. Any one skilled in the art can easily recognize from this discussion, as well as the accompanying drawings or claims, that there are many modifications, variations and changes that may be made without departing from its spirit and scope.
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