FMRG: Cyber: Manufacturing USA: Robotic Additive Manufacturing of Volumetrically-Oriented Multi-Functional Composites via Digital Twin-Informed Optimization

Nature grows structures (e.g., bone, wood, and tissue) with remarkable functionality and efficiency by simultaneously tailoring both the structural shape and the spatial orientation of a (multi-)material system that has direction-dependent properties. Unfortunately, humans struggle to create such structures due to limitations in today’s manufacturing technologies, which cannot align composite materials in 3D space.

The overall aim of this Future Manufacturing Research Grant (FMRG) award is to realize a future cybermanufacturing platform that is capable of precisely controlling the 3D orientation of multi-material systems. This award supports creation of the “Anisotropic Multi-Axis Layerless Additive Manufacturing” (AniMAL AM) system, which looks to leverage robotic arms outfitted with material extrusion tools that are driven by multi-axis printing toolpaths to enable volumetric, spatial control in composite materials.

Controlling the organization and orientation of functional composite materials within a part could enable an estimated 10x structural and 70x thermal improvement over conventional additive manufacturing technologies. This looks to transform industries requiring tool-less fabrication of lightweight, multifunctional structures—such as aerospace and automotive—by reducing costs for complex parts while significantly enhancing performance.

The award will also introduce, prepare, and grow a future workforce with the convergent skills required for future manufacturing careers.

AniMAL AM represents a fusion of advanced technologies: a layerless, multi-axis 3D printing process that orients materials in different directions throughout a part volume, machine learning-enhanced design optimization, and a pair of material and process digital twins to simulate and control the manufacturing process at both mesoscopic voxel-level inclusion orientation and macroscopic part topology. AniMAL AM looks to enable a future manufacturing process to design, fabricate, and validate multifunctional composite structures with voxel-level inclusion orientation with improved performance and robustness.

This seeks to yield new (1) understanding of the shear-induced orientation of dynamic inclusions during extrusion, (2) methods for planning robotic poses for multi-axis toolpaths, (3) approaches for quantifying uncertainty from multiple sources, and (4) topology optimization that accounts for multiaxis manufacturing constraints and treats voxel orientation and inclusion morphology as design variables. Integrating this research with strategic outreach and experiential learning activities looks to prepare a next-generation workforce to leverage these breakthroughs to revolutionize the manufacturing of advanced composite systems and improve performance across varied applications.

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.