Design and In Situ Additive Manufacturing of Multifunctional Structures

Multifunctional structures (MFSs) integrate diverse functions to achieve superior properties. However, conventional design and manufacturing methods—which generally lack quality control and largely depend on complex equipment with multiple stations to achieve the integration of distinct materials and devices—are unable to satisfy the requirements of MFS applications in emerging industries such as aerospace engineering. Motivated by the concept of design for manufacturing, we adopt a layer regulation method with an established optimization model to design typical MFSs with load-bearing, electric, heat-conduction, and radiation-shielding functions. A high-temperature in situ additive manufacturing (AM) technology is developed to print various metallic wires or carbon fiber-reinforced high-melting-point polyetheretherketone (PEEK) composites. It is found that the MFS, despite its low mass, exceeds the stiffness of the PEEK substrate by 21.5%. The embedded electrics remain functional after the elastic deformation stage. Compared with those of the PEEK substrate, the equivalent thermal conductivity of the MFS beneath the central heat source area is enhanced by 568.0%, and the radiation shielding is improved by 27.9%. Moreover, a satellite prototype with diverse MFSs is rapidly constructed as an illustration. This work provides a systematic approach for high-performance design and advanced manufacturing, which exhibits considerable prospects for both the function expansion and performance enhancement of industrial equipment.