| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 9, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 9, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1744591 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Pamela McCauley
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $50,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $50,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4202 E FOWLER AVE TAMPA FL US 33620-5800 (813)974-2897 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3702 Spectrum Blvd Tampa FL US 33612-9446 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project will increase American manufacturing competitiveness and open new product opportunities. The technology has the potential to expand the application space for 3D printing by removing current limitations on materials, achievable properties, and processing speed. This will allow users to customize parts to user needs and reduce lead times for industries from medical devices to aerospace, to consumer products. There are many opportunities in the 3D printing industry because it is rapidly growing (>15-20% per year). The new approaches to manufacturing are transforming a wide variety of industries despite many pressing technical issues that remain. The technology behind this project can open new markets/industries for these technologies by addressing some of the critical limitations.
This I-Corps project will evaluate a modified process for additive manufacturing (3D Printing) with polymers from a powder feedstock. This is typically done by scanning the powder bed with a laser to locally fuse the powder particles together. An alternative method is developed here that allows for economical fusing of the powder over longer time periods. Current laser-based methods are constrained to utilizing a few specialized material types due to the process constraints. While these work for many applications, there are many applications that require specialized materials that cannot be used in the current additive manufacturing methods. This technology has the potential to expand the range of materials that can be successfully processed. Additionally, the material properties produced by current methods are reduced relative to those obtained using traditional approaches such as injection molding.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The goal of this project was to evaluate the commercial potential of replacing the laser in polymer laser sintering with a projected image to melt polymers. This alternative approach to 3D printing offers the potential for faster build times and improved material properties. A prior NSF-funded project showed that polymers fused with an image achieved greater strength and toughness than when the same polymers were fused with a laser. This is of great interest because many 3D printed materials are relatively brittle and fracture more easily than parts made by traditional methods. Additionally, this approach to 3D printing allows for tighter temperature control so that more temperature sensitive materials can be processed. The 3D printing process based on this technology has been named Large Area Projection Sintering (LAPS).
The project team consisted of the PI (technical lead) a doctoral student (Entrepreneurial Lead - EL) and a volunteer mentor with extensive background in venture capital. Through this project the team met with over 100 potential customers, suppliers, and partners to get feedback on the value of the concepts to customers in various industries. Based on this feedback, we determined that there was a strong potential for using LAPS to fabricate tooling and some end-use components if it can be done with sufficient accuracy and speed. This project was critical in taking the PI and EL out of the lab to interface with the relevant industry and identify opportunities to meet business needs.
Funds from the project were also used to develop a process scaling model to better understand the conditions under which production speed would be competitive with existing processes. This has provided the insight into technological gaps required to create a commercially viable product. Additionally, a study was conducted to evaluate the potential machine architectures that could implement the process effectively.
The knowledge obtained from the studies of both the technological challenges and commercial opportunities helped the entrepreneurial lead to obtain support in order to continue the commercial development of the process. He started a company (Ascend Manufacturing) and obtained over $500,000 in support from the Department of Energy and other sources for further technical development and commercial exploration. A larger scale prototype LAPS system has been designed and is currently under construction. This system will be utilized to refine predictions of system production rate and validate performance in industrial applications.
In addition to the potential commercialization advancements that this project has enabled, this funding has facilitated the advancement of entpreneurship through the training and experiences provided to the graduate student and the PI.
Last Modified: 04/09/2019
Modified by: Nathan B Crane
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