2019 AIChE Annual Meeting

(568c) Development of a Vat Photo Polymerization 3D Printer for the Additive Manufacturing of Gun Propulsion Charge

Author

Additive manufacturing (AM), or commonly known as 3D printing, of various materials such as metals, thermoplastics and ceramics is growing in popularity as a practical and effective manufacturing method. This technology has blossomed over the past few decades and is starting to become cheaper and more available. Utilization of AM technology for the manufacture of gun propellants enables charge designers to realize very complex geometries in comparison to today's standards of gun propellants. There are many methods of AM, and this paper will focus on the vat photo polymerization method, also known as stereo lithography (SLA). In this method, the material, typically a photo polymer resin in liquid form, is exposed to a UV light source and moved to a new layer in the z plane. Each layer is fused to adjacent layers in the z-direction as the intended part is built from bottom up. A Formlabs Form 1+ printer was used with both inert and energetic materials at various solids loading levels. Characterization and material properties will be discussed further for eventual use in gun propulsion application.