The Materials Science team at the University of New York's Tanton School of Engineering has developed a 3D printed composite foam method for automotive, aircraft, marine and submarine manufacturing.
The composite foam is composed of a mixture of tiny hollow ceramic or glass spheres and epoxy or plastic resin materials. This material is very popular in the manufacturing industry because it is both strong and light, and buoyant. (Understandably, these three characteristics make it particularly useful in submarine production.)
The research team said that the ability to 3D printed composite foams can provide better compression and physical properties for more complex parts, thereby improving the currently used methods of injection molded foam parts.
The research team created a printable filament consisting of high-density polyethylene plastic (HDPE) and recyclable fly ash (a by-product of coal combustion). This composite foam can be printed on off-the-shelf 3D printers and is fully recyclable.
Nikhil Gupta, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the project, said: "Our focus is on developing a hardware that can be used in commercial printers without the need to change the printer. There are many parameters that affect the printing process, including building panels, temperature and Print speed. Finding the best set of print conditions is the key to making high quality printing possible.
A key element in the development of filaments is the finding of the right size of the hollow microspheres so that they can easily pass through the printer nozzle without clogging. Ultimately, the microspheres range in diameter from 0.04 mm to 0.07 mm and can easily pass standard 1.7 mm printer nozzles.
It has been reported that 3D printed composite foams are comparable in strength and density to injection molded parts. Currently, the team is working on how to optimize the development of submarine vehicles that can operate at specific depths.
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