Additive Manufacturing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Composites for Aircraft Repair

Conventionally, the composite repair methods involve the removal of damaged materials, surface preparation, and applying a repair patch to restore structural integrity and strength. Although repair systems exist, the processes are labor-intensive. The repairing quality highly depends on the skills of workers, and significant wastes are generated that are hard to reuse and recycle. Storagenergy Technologies, Inc. proposes a portable carbon fiber/epoxy printing process facilitating automated continuous fiber-reinforced composite repair. Storagenergy’s material technology and 3D printing expertise will be synergistically combined to provide a practical 3D printing process to print high toughness, stiffness, strength, and lightweight fiber composite for aircraft direct repair.