Inside-Out Manufacturing of Composite Structures Project

Tooling for the manufacture of large structures from composite materials often costs much more than individual parts, rendering the processes unattractive for prototype designs. A new design for manufacturing philosphy for multifunctional composite structures is suggested that does not require the use of hard tooling to form large complex shapes. By utilizing a thin rigid and form-able pre-form such as a metal screen or foam core, fiber reinforcement may be tacked into place and vacuum bagged on both sides to perform resin infusion without the need for any tooling. The process is expected to be scalable and capable of forming large structures including most shapes envisioned for launch vehicles, exploration vehicles, and habitats. The process will also be applicable to architecture and commercial industrial process equipment such as cooling towers and offshore platforms. The process could reduce the cost of manufacturing composite prototype structures by more than one-half by eliminating the need for hard tooling.

The design for manufacturing philosphy of inside-out manufacturing for multifunctional composite structure could enable reduced mass and lower production cost for small vehicles such as the MMSEV, robotic components such as in R2 or exoskeleton, and propulsion systems such as SLS. Evolved manufacturing process may be utilized in next generation spacecraft designs such as re-usable launch vehicles, lunar landers, Mars transit vehicles, re-entry vehicles capable of landing horizontally and returning large masses. In commercial transport, aircraft, and automobiles, the use of large flexible circuits imbedded in the structure may reduce cost and assembly labor as well as mass while also improving durability. By forming entire vehicles with integral systems as a single structural element and process step, manufacturing costs may be reduced by disruptive magnitudes.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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