Study of 3D-Printed Polymers for Aerospace Structural Applications

Abstract

This work focuses on the use of additively manufactured polymers for the design of parts subjected to structural loads and environmental degradation. A major advantage of additive manufacturing is the ability to produce parts with complex geometries that would be costly or infeasible with other manufacturing techniques. A major disadvantage of additive manufacturing is the large knowledge gap that exists in the performance of additively manufactured polymers. This project sought to help fill that knowledge gap through pristine material testing and environmental degradation testing, as well as developing protocols to help overcome some of the challenges of using additive manufactured polymers. The project focused on a case study problem, that of a service access door for a Boeing airliner. The focus of the work was initially to identify a candidate set of materials and printing processes. After this, the focus was to characterize the behavior of the set of materials through testing. This material characterization was used to reduce the list of possible material systems to two candidates to be considered for future work for this project. The work also focused on the design of a new access door that would be suitable for the materials and printing processes selected for this project. The work then focused on testing subcomponents of the final designs to characterize the behavior of built-up parts printed with additively manufactured polymers.