Innovation: Additively Reinforced Thermoforming (ART): A Platform for Convergent Composite Manufacturing
Award Category: Combined Strength, CAMX finalist and Manufacturing: Equipment and Tooling Innovation, 2025 CAMX ACE finalist
Company: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), SEKISUI KYDEX
Objective: Additively Reinforced Thermoforming (ART) is a novel convergent manufacturing process that combines 3D printing with thermoforming to create lightweight, reinforced thermoplastic components. Reinforcements are printed onto flat sheets and then thermoformed into 3D parts, eliminating the need for metal inserts or secondary assembly.
Results: Used in transportation, aerospace, energy, and consumer markets, ART enables rapid customization, reduced part weight and improved structural performance. For example, in a seatback application for mass-transit, ART achieved up to 24–25% weight savings and a 30% improvement in structural deflection performance. Components are made from thermoplastics with optional fiber-filled variants.
Impact: ART’s unique integration of digital design, additive deposition, and high-rate forming makes it a strong contender for manufacturing, offering innovation in efficiency, agility, design freedom, and optimizing material performance.
From the Expert: “ART is a novel convergent manufacturing process that we demonstrated using an actual transportation component where the industry faced challenges with excessive deflection. Traditionally, metallic plates and inserts were used to mitigate these issues. Through integrated 3D printing, we reinforced the part using stiff, carbon fiber reinforced composites made from the same resin system. This process reduced manufacturing steps, labor, and weight, while improving structural stiffness and deflection performance compared to non-reinforced parts, representing a major advancement for the industry.” ~ Ahmed Arabi Hassen Group Leader and Senior R&D Scientist, Composites Innovation Group at ORNL