Advanced additive manufacturing (e.g., non-planar and multi-material) of high-performance composites.
The Laboratory for Multiscale Mechanics (LM2) has developed an expertise in the design of multifunctional composite materials for advanced additive manufacturing of high-performance polymer composites and smart systems for a wide variety of applications ranging from sensors and energy harvesting materials to aerospace composite parts. Despite the advanced progress in recent years in printable materials and additive manufacturing processes, big challenges remain in making structures featuring complex geometries and multifunctionality. Daniel Therriault’s research team aims to design new multifunctional materials and new additive manufacturing processes including non-planar and multi-material multi-process printing for rapid manufacturing of large composite structures or smart systems in a single printing process. For example, our customized 6-axis robot-assisted 3D printing platform consists of a 6-axis robot arm on which printing heads of different technologies are mounted to address the current roadblocks of the additive manufacturing community (e.g., manufacturing of large structures, printing on curved surfaces). The LM2 labs host many equipment and facilities related to design, processing, manufacturing and characterization of nano, micro, and macro-systems including, but not limited to, several customized and commercial 3D printers, dispensing robots, mixing equipment (e.g., micro-extruder), optical microscopes, and several tensile machines.
- Non-planar additive manufacturing of thermosetting and thermoplastic composites (a customized 6-axis robotic platform on which high-flow printing heads are mounted for rapid manufacturing of large composite structures for aerospace and transportation sectors).
- Multi-material multi-process additive manufacturing of smart multifunctional systems (a customized highly precise printing platform composed of an Aerotech Gantry system and 4 printing heads of different technologies (for smart composites and energy harvesting materials).
- Micro-stations for additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing of microstructures for different applications such as microelectromechanical system (MEMS)/micro antennas/microfluidics/lab-on-a-chip).
- Mixing equipment and resources to develop advanced materials (e.g., polymer/based nanocomposites materials with improved mechanical properties useful for aerospace industries or composites with desired electrical properties for microelectronics).
- High performance optical microscopes, Micro-CT scanner, tensile testing machine.
- Research and development collaborations.
- Aerospace and satellites
- Energy
- Manufacturing and processing
- Transportation
Specialized labs and equipment
Specialized lab | Equipment | Function |
---|---|---|
3D printing lab | Six-axis robot-assisted additive manufacturing platform (custom-built) | A custom-built platform for rapid non-planar additive manufacturing of large polymer composite structures for aerospace applications. Various commercial and custom-built printing heads are mounted to print thermosetting and thermoplastic polymers and paste-like materials. |
3D printing lab | Raise3D printers (4) | Four similar printers for printing of low temperature plastics (PLA). The Raise3D Pro 2 printer supports dual extrusion and is compatible with a wide range of materials due to its extrusion temperature up to 300°C. |
3D printing lab | AON3D AON-M2 3D printer (2) | Industrial fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers capable of printing high temperature polymers and composites with a chamber that can heat up to 120°C. |
3D printing lab | Formlabs Form 3 SLA 3D printer and cleaning machine | This liquid resin 3D printer uses stereolithography (SLA) technology to deliver high-resolution printed models, forming solid isotropic parts from a liquid photopolymer resin. |
3D printing lab | Formlabs Form 2 SLA 3D printer and cleaning machine | This liquid resin 3D printer uses stereolithography (SLA) technology to deliver high-resolution printed models, forming solid isotropic parts from a liquid photopolymer resin. |
3D printing lab | I&J Fisnar dispensing robots (2) | Used for 3D printing of microstructures such as microcoil and scaffold, and also for spraying thin films with high control on the film thickness. |
3D printing lab | Aerotech gantry system (custom-built) | A custom-built 3D printing platform for printing of paste-like materials via direct-ink writing. |
Multi-material 3D printing lab | Aerotech air-bearing gantry system (custom-built) | A custom-built multi-material multi-process 3D printing platform for printing of different types of materials using different printing technologies (e.g., Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), direct-ink-writing (DIW), UV-assisted printing). |
Microscopy characterization lab | Olympus BX61 Microscope | Traditional and fluorescence imaging, magnification from 1.25x to 100x. |
Microscopy characterization lab | Olympus SZX-12 Stereo Microscope | Traditional and fluorescence imaging, color camera and magnification up to 230x. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | Buehler IsoMet low-speed precision saw | For sample preparation: A high precision low-speed saw for cutting the samples in the required sizes. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | Custom ventilated systems for the safe use of nanomaterials | The dispensing robots, extruder, three-roll mixer and spray system are placed in ventilated chambers to prevent the inhalation of toxic materials by the users. A fume hood is used for working with toxic volatile materials. A glove box is also used for handling carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene with high security. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | DSM Xplore Twin Screw micro-extruder | Has a 5 ml volume capacity and a maximum temperature of 400°C. The twin screw speed can go up to 400 rpm. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | SPEX SamplePrep 8000M Mixer/Mill | Ball mill mixer. Efficient mechanical mixer for paste-like materials. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | Cole-Parmer StableTemp® 282A Vacuum Ovens (2) | Capable of heating up to 280°C under vacuum, air or nitrogen atmosphere. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | FlackTek DAC 330-100 SE Speed Mixer | For fast mixing of high viscosity pastes. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | Buehler Metaserv 2000 Grinder Polisher | For sample preparation: Mechanical polishing equipment for polishing the samples in the required sizes. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | ScanVac Scan Speed 32 centrifuge | For separation of solid and liquid phases in a short time, maximum speed of 2000 rpm. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | EXAKT 80E Three Roll Mill | For mixing of nanofillers in polymers with electronic control of all the mixing parameters (gap and operating speed) which assures reproducibility. |
Wet lab (materials preparation) | Noztek Xcalibur Extruder | Melts a wide range of polymers, including high temperature thermoplastics and combinations of metallic powders. The equipment is used for making filament for FFF printing. |
Private and public sector research partners
- Safran Group (France)
- ArianeGroup (France)
- Bombardier Aerospace
- Bell Textron Canada
- 3M Canada
- Canadian Space Agency
- NanoXplore
- Solaxis Ingenious Manufacturing Inc.
- National Research Council Canada (NRC) (Boucherville)
- Dyze Design
- Mëkanic
- MDA Corporation
- Velan Inc.