NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for manufacturing process development of high-rate composites for aerospace applications.

Description

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC), on behalf of the Engineering Directorate and Aeronautics Directorate, is hereby soliciting information from potential sources regarding high-rate thermoplastic manufacturing technologies and process development. NASA is interested in engaging with government, industry, and academia for collaborations to develop thermoset and thermoplastic manufacturing processes tailored, but not limited, to aerospace applications with the Ames High-Rate Composite Manufacturing Facility (AHRCM). The AHRCM supports the research and development of aerospace materials processes (particularly for thermoplastic composites), modeling, and large structures with the goal of mitigating labor-in-the-loop manufacturing bottlenecks by increasing volumetric fabrication throughput of composites and reducing inertial assembly errors as a virtue of robotic automation.

This Request for Information (RFI) serves to solicit organizations that have demonstrated heritage referencing composite materials for aerospace applications, particularly those pertaining to aeronautics, spacecraft, intelligent structures, automotive, and other high-rate thermoset & thermoplastic manufacturing applications.

Background

The emerging Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry must rely heavily on advanced composite materials to build vehicles that will meet the performance and safety requirements needed to achieve commercial success. These electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles must make extensive use of light-weight carbon fiber composite structures and components to maximize vehicle range and payload achievable with the energy storage density of foreseeable battery technology. Using conventional metallic materials for this application is not an option because:

· Metallic structures are heavy, reducing the achievable vehicle payloads and ranges to impractical levels.

· Traditional aircraft production rates, utilizing the current state-of-the-art in materials and production methods approach 1,000 aircraft per year. To be economically feasible, AAM aircraft production rates must reach 5,000 or more aircraft per year.

Significant reductions in composite manufacturing costs, large improvements in manufacturing consistency and rates of production, will be required to meet vehicle cost goals and allow mass-produced components to be certified by the FAA. The automotive industry has begun to develop high-rate manufacturing processes for automobiles that achieve significant reductions in manufacturing cost, but these methods have not yet been applied to the manufacture of aerospace components that require very high levels of quality assurance.

Ames Research Center developed AHRCM in 2021 as a composite manufacturing facility that specializes in the rapid processing of thermoset Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP). The facility was created to reduce the time-to-part for aerospace components, using industry-standard High-Pressure Resin Transfer Molding (HP-RTM) and thermoset CFRP thermoforming, also referred to as prepreg “stamp-forming” or “drape-molding.”

Located in the high bay of a historic aviation hangar, thermoforming is accommodated by two independent automated manufacturing lines: preforming and final thermoforming.  The preforming stage currently contains a 6-DOF ABB Robotics charge loading manipulator, a conductive and infrared heating platen, 20 pneumatic grippers mounted on a shuttling system, a 300-ton press, and a 6-DOF ABB unloading manipulator. This capability was designed for thermoset CFRP preforming, and as such can subject a ~1-foot by 4-foot CFRP prepreg 7-ply charge through ~350C in the preforming platen and ~250C in a preforming drape mold with up to 300 tons of force. The final thermoforming line contains a 6-DOF ABB charge loading manipulator, a 3,600-ton press, a heating system that can heat molds with ~250C via thermal fluid, a 6-DOF ABB unloading manipulator and an HP-RTM capability which can be integrated for compatibility with non-prepreg composites.

Ames is particularly interested in collaborating to develop advanced composite modeling and thermoplastic composite manufacturing processes by retrofitting AHRCM’s current thermoforming lines. Thermoplastic CFRP requires elevated temperatures at ~300C - 385C, varying with respect to the specific fiber and resin matrix utilized. Initial feasibility studies and empirical testing demonstrate that AHRCM may be retrofit for compatibility with thermoplastic CFRP, while maintaining the current high-rate automated configuration.