Continuous fiber reinforced composites and methods, apparatuses, and compositions for making the same
First Claim
1. A method of making a composite three-dimensional object comprising:
- (a) forming a continuous filament comprising a longitudinally extending continuous fiber and a material-laden composition comprising a thermoplastic polymer and at least about 40 volume % of a ceramic or metallic particulate, wherein the filament includes a green matrix material from the material-laden composition, and wherein the green matrix material completely surrounds the fiber;
(b) passing the filament to a movable assembly for guiding placement of the filament onto an associated working surface;
(c) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a first layer having a predetermined filament orientation;
(d) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a second layer on top of the first layer;
(e) heating the deposited filament, a portion of the layer adjacent the deposited filament and a portion of layer below the deposited filament to a predetermined temperature effective for softening the green matrix material to provide a heated portion;
(f) compressing the heated portion with a force effective for consolidating and bonding the green matrix material; and
(g) solidifying the heated portion to provide a composite object of a predetermined geometry.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A process for continuous composite coextrusion comprising: (a) forming first a material-laden composition comprising a thermoplastic polymer and at least about 40 volume % of a ceramic or metallic particulate in a manner such that the composition has a substantially cylindrical geometry and thus can be used as a substantially cylindrical feed rod; (b) forming a hole down the symmetrical axis of the feed rod; (c) inserting the start of a continuous spool of ceramic fiber, metal fiber or carbon fiber through the hole in the feed rod; (d) extruding the feed rod and spool simultaneously to form a continuous filament consisting of a green matrix material completely surrounding a dense fiber reinforcement and said filament having an average diameter that is less than the average diameter of the feed rod; and (e) depositing the continuous filament into a desired architecture which preferably is determined from specific loading conditions of the desired object and CAD design of the object to provide a green fiber reinforced composite object.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of making a composite three-dimensional object comprising:
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(a) forming a continuous filament comprising a longitudinally extending continuous fiber and a material-laden composition comprising a thermoplastic polymer and at least about 40 volume % of a ceramic or metallic particulate, wherein the filament includes a green matrix material from the material-laden composition, and wherein the green matrix material completely surrounds the fiber;
(b) passing the filament to a movable assembly for guiding placement of the filament onto an associated working surface;
(c) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a first layer having a predetermined filament orientation;
(d) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a second layer on top of the first layer;
(e) heating the deposited filament, a portion of the layer adjacent the deposited filament and a portion of layer below the deposited filament to a predetermined temperature effective for softening the green matrix material to provide a heated portion;
(f) compressing the heated portion with a force effective for consolidating and bonding the green matrix material; and
(g) solidifying the heated portion to provide a composite object of a predetermined geometry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A three-dimensional fiber reinforced composite object formed by the steps comprising:
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(a) forming a continuous filament comprising a longitudinally extending continuous fiber and a material-laden composition comprising a thermoplastic polymer, at least about 40 volume % of a ceramic or metallic particulate, and a thermoplastic binder, wherein the filament includes a green matrix material from the material-laden composition, and wherein the green matrix material completely surrounds the fiber;
(b) passing the filament to a movable assembly for guiding placement of the filament onto an associated working surface;
(c) creating a drawing of the composite three-dimensional object utilizing a computer-aided design process, wherein the process generates a drawing including a plurality of segments;
(d) generating input signals based on the drawing for directing the movable assembly to deposit the filament onto the working surface in a predetermined arrangement, wherein the movable assembly is guided in response to the signals;
(e) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a first layer having a predetermined filament orientation;
(f) depositing the filament onto the working surface to form a second layer on top of the first layer;
(g) heating the deposited filament, a portion of the layer adjacent the deposited filament and a portion of layer below the deposited filament to a predetermined temperature effective for softening the green matrix material to provide a heated portion;
(h) compressing the heated portion with a force effective for consolidating and bonding the green matrix material;
(i) solidifying the heated portion to provide a composite object of a predetermined geometry;
(j) heating the composite object to remove thermoplastic binder from the composite object; and
(k) consolidating the composite object to provide a fully dense fiber reinforced composite object.
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Specification