SBIR Phase II: 3D Printing of Thermally Stable Composites for Injection Mold Tooling

The broader impact/commercial potential of this SBIR Phase II project is to lower costs for injection molding, a common method of manufacturing plastic goods. Unfortunately, injection molding can be a lengthy and wasteful process because molds are designed, machined from metal, and then shipped to an injection molder. The proposed project will develop new tooling for low-volume injection molding applications at strengths and resolutions comparable with machined aluminum at a fraction of the current cost and lead time, providing extra resilience to the supply chain. This will be used for applications in industries across automotive, aerospace, consumer product goods, and medical devices. This Phase II SBIR will apply advancements in 3D printing of fiber-reinforced photopolymers to the injection molding application. This project will apply advancements in fiber-filled photopolymers (such as ceramic and polymer particle reinforced resins) in combination with magnetically aligned structures to injection mold tools. Tooling inserts will be tested across the most common and challenging injection molding plastics. 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.