Revitalization of Aircraft Carbon Fiber Composites in New Additively Manufactured Parts

NanoSonic is a small, advanced materials company that specializes in the development and manufacturing of state-of-the-art structural composites that are not commercially available.  Here, NanoSonic shall produce aircraft composites using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with a commercial scalable method for revitalizing carbon fiber reclaimed from end-of-life and aircraft composite scraps.  Our extensive array of AM capabilities include: 1) filament winding, 2) reactive extrusion of films, pellets or filaments, 3) fused filament fabrication (FFF) printers, and 4) an ExOne binder-jet for fiber, ceramic, and metal 3D hybrids.  Our constituents include nanofillers and synthetic (carbon, Kevlar, and polyethylene) and wood-based (flax and hemp) reinforcing fibers with polymer-tailored sizings to maximize specific and interlaminar shear strength.  For this STTR, we have teamed with Virginia Tech’s AM Lead, Dr. Bortner, who offers expertise in carbon fiber reclamation and use within their dual-FFF printer to yield in-situ designs based on pure carbon fiber and polymer composite filaments.  Together, we will demonstrate a scalable process to recycle carbon fiber aircraft composites as new composites with mechanical properties on par with those produced from original non-recycled materials.  We have teamed with Lockheed Martin Aeronatics who shall assist with aircraft scraps and areas/specifications for recycled composite integration.