Can we print an aircraft at room temperature?

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Within the field of aircraft manufacturing and aerospace sector, there is an increasing emphasis on thermoplastic composites and Additive Manufacturing (AM). However, current thermoplastic AM techniques are not suitable to manufacture parts with required reliability. These products suffer from poor mechanical performance stemming from the inherent weakness of printable polymers, high void content and weak bonding between printed layers. Current thermoplastic AM techniques are thermally-driven processes with serious limitations in processing of engineering thermoplastics due to high melt viscosity and process temperature of such polymers. Therefore, Print2fly is devoted to developing a new extrusion-based AM method named Reactive Liquid Deposition Modelling (RLDM) to fabricate reliable and high-performance continues fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites at room temperature. The RLDM technology employs photopolymerization of a liquid resin with tailored flow-ability and polymerization kinetics instead of the conventional melt processing. Print2fly conceptualizes a novel interphase formation between the freshly deposited layer and solidified layers and bridges the nano/micro-structure to the bonding performance and composite macro-mechanics. Print2fly will be a futuristic composite manufacturing technique to produce durable, robust, complex and recyclable parts for the aircraft industry. The chance to perform this multi-disciplinary project within a world leading thermoplastic composites laboratory will give me the opportunity to excel my competencies in polymer chemistry, mechanics of composites and advanced characterizations. This will extend my scientific knowledge in thermoplastics and AM and augment my professional maturity and independence, helping me to grow my professional network. The fellowship will open excellent career possibilities for me to reach a group leader position in the materials science and production technology fields as a future prospect.