SBIR Phase I: Carbon Fiber Composites for Next-Gen Wind Turbines

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will explore a novel materials processing technology that progresses the state-of-the-art of carbon fiber composites while leveraging mature and cost-efficient manufacturing methods. The processing technology of interest produces a material that approaches the isotropic properties of high-performance metal alloys while retaining the light-weight and stiffness of carbon fiber composites. Components that are fabricated from this new composite will have higher impact strength and reduced susceptibility to delamination, compared to commercially-available carbon fiber composites. The broader impact of this project includes providing engineers with a new tool to implement previously unfeasible designs that drastically improve performance while reducing energy consumption and material waste. The rapid adoption of carbon fiber composites in the wind energy, aerospace, and defense industries provides an opportunity for the novel material developed in this project to disrupt the $25-billion global carbon fiber composite market. Effective scale-up to industrial production of the novel carbon fiber composite can revitalize the Massachusetts textiles manufacturing ecosystem and increase the competitiveness of the U.S. advanced materials manufacturing base. The intellectual merit of this project is the continuous production of a three-dimensionally (3-D) reinforced carbon fiber prepreg that features a carbon fiber fabric reinforced with vertically aligned short carbon fibers. This novel material provides a laminated composite part with dense through-thickness and interlaminar reinforcement. Conventional carbon fiber laminates lack through-thickness reinforcement and rely on an unfilled polymer matrix to bind the layers of the laminate together, resulting in poor impact performance and frequent delamination. This project involves the roll-to-roll fabrication of 3-D reinforced carbon fiber prepregs and characterization of the produced composite material. The anticipated result of the project is the repeatable fabrication of a 3-D reinforced carbon fiber prepreg with enhanced performance compared to commercially-available prepregs. Successful completion of this project will enable further scale-up of the associated manufacturing technology and the commercial-launch of novel 3-D reinforced carbon fiber prepregs to produce stronger, lighter, and more durable composite structures. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.