Continuous reactor and additive manufacturing of metals with nanostructured inclusions

INV-21117

Background 

Composite materials are materials created with 2 or more substances to create materials with improved properties such as strength, light weighted-ness, stiffness, increased conductivity, and resistance to corrosion and wear. Composite materials have properties that cannot be achieved with a single material. Older and current technology include manually creating composites through hand lay-up, or compression molding and injection molding which provides limited shape complexity along with high setup and operational costs. Other processes like resin transfer molding also have the added disadvantage of producing a significant amount of waste materials. What the field requires is a novel method for the manufacture of composite materials.

Description 

Northeastern researchers are developing a revolutionary apparatus that allows for continuous formation of topographies with the composite material. Specific conditions in this process helps maintain the material in its liquid state to form structures with incorporated nanoparticles. This technology provides stable flow while also allowing enough time to form nanostructures for the desired composite.

Benefits: 

Provide a bulleted list of key benefits of the technology

• Continuous process involving melted metal composition
• Additive manufacturing is enabled, allowing for creation of different forms and topologies
• Uniform and stable flow
• Addition of nanostructures is enabled

Applications:

• Composite materials for wires, cables, fibers, and other linear forms
• Materials that allow for measurement of chemical kinetics
• Lightweight materials that conduct electricity

Opportunity 

License

Research Collaboration