Curved Foldable Tailored Fiber Reinforcements for Moldless Customized Bio-Composite Structures. Proof of Concept:...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Composite Materials Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) offer high strength-to-weight ratios but are typically mass-produced using standardized methods.
• Current fabrication processes for FRPs often involve costly molds, limiting customization and design flexibility.
• There is a need for innovative manufacturing techniques to enable bespoke FRP component production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a mold-free fabrication process for customized Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs).
• To enable the creation of complex three-dimensional shapes with enhanced structural stability.
• To leverage additive manufacturing and bio-inspired design for efficient and adaptable composite fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Utilized tailored fiber placement (TFP) for precise, programmed anisotropic material behavior.
• Employed a curved folding technique to shape flat reinforcements into spatial objects before resin hardening.
• Integrated principles from biological role models for optimized fiber placement strategies.
• Developed a parametric design tool for automated design and fiber layout generation.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated complex, spatially curved FRP structures without traditional molds.
• Achieved structural stability through the design of closed cross-sections.
• Demonstrated the system's functionality and advantages by producing five customized stools from natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites (NFRP).
• Showcased the potential for producing a variety of customized components with reduced design and manufacturing effort.

Conclusions:

• The developed mold-free, curved folding, and TFP approach enables efficient, customized fabrication of FRP components.
• The integration of bio-inspired design and parametric tools facilitates adaptable and resource-efficient manufacturing.
• This method offers a viable alternative for producing bespoke composite structures, particularly using partially bio-based materials.