3Dream – Advanced additive manufacturing for thermoplastic polymers

PROJECT COST:

1 063 920 $

PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:

424 368 $

PROJECT DETAILS:

The additive manufacturing industry of thermoplastic polymers and their composites (also called 3D printing) is in its first phases of development. To date, a certain monopoly is exercised by a few large companies. Thus, thermoplastic 3D printing mainly uses closed source commercial machines, which offer only a limited choice of often proprietary and expensive materials and do not allow for control over the parameters of the shaping process. The resulting parts often offer inadequate performance and the process cycle is not compatible with industrial production activities.

This R&D group aims to develop, in partnership with industry and academia, an open-source, reliable technology that can be used for the industrial production of high-performance parts. The project will bring together around nine (9) industrial partners, including Quebec-based companies specializing in 3D printing, working under the scientific direction of the National Research Council of Canada and Polytechnique Montréal.

The scientific developments will advance thermoplastic polymer additive manufacturing technology at both the process and material levels. Three tasks will focus separately on materials, the process, and modeling, and will be conducted in parallel. Task 1 will develop materials tailored to the specific requirements of 3D printing and high-performance applications in the transportation sector. These materials will be used, among other things, to produce small series of high-performance parts and for the fabrication of tooling for rapid prototyping. Task 2 aims to advance the 3D printing process by developing systems to: 1) print high-melting-point thermoplastics and multiple materials simultaneously, 2) enable the use of conventional granule-based feedstock, and 3) design a real-time monitoring system for part construction. Task 3 will focus on modeling and numerical simulation of the 3D printing process. And the final task (Task 4) will consist of manufacturing prototypes using the materials and processes developed in Tasks 1 to 3.