SBIR Phase I: High Speed Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Using Electron Beams

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will combine electron beam curing and dynamic beam control technology to create equipment for electron beam rapid prototyping/manufacturing. The unique advantage of this technique is that it offers 'ultra-high' speeds in the range of 5 - 20 cc/second. If successful, the resulting technology can produce one liter sized, large, complex plastic parts in times of order 1 minute. This increase in speed will dramatically reduce the cost of rapid prototyping so that this technique can be used in small and medium production run manufacturing. In addition to increasing speed, electron beam curing can use a much wider range of materials than optical curing because the electrons stimulate polymerization directly, without requiring photoinitiators as part of the cured compound . Electron beams can also be used to integrate metals and carbon fibers into the rapid prototyped part. In Phase I, crude parts will be produced using this technique, and develop plans for a complete Phase II system that will focus on the large variety of available electron beam curable plastics. Applications for the technology include production of parts for small lot production such as electronic enclosures, custom mechanical equipment or medical equipment.