Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Carbon fiber bicycles are becoming increasingly more popular due to their high strength/stiffness and lightx000D
weight properties. The majority of these bikes are produced on expensive steel tooling (moulds) that require ax000D
high capital investment and commitment to a design before prototypes have been built and tested. Rockyx000D
Mountain Bicycles is interested in developing a technique for rapid prototyping carbon fiber bicycles forx000D
evaluation before production tooling investments are made.x000D
The focus of this research project is to investigate the potential use of 3D printed tooling for rapid prototypingx000D
carbon fiber composite bicycle frames. Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. is a world leader in designing andx000D
manufacturing high end, full suspension, carbon fiber and metallic bicycle frames. To bring a new metallicx000D
frame design to market, a number of handmade prototypes are built (welded and machined) and tested beforex000D
the design goes into production. This is not the case for carbon fiber bicycle frames. Due to the high cost ofx000D
tooling, prototypes are typically not made from carbon fiber. The same geometry (ie, location of pivot points,x000D
seat post, crank, etc.) is created with metal, and once the geometry is determined the company must commit tox000D
expensive tooling for a production run before anyone has even ridden a carbon fiber version. New technologiesx000D
like 3D printing can be used to develop a method of prototyping carbon fiber frames. This would help Rockyx000D
Mountain Bicycles Ltd. reduce time to market, increase the speed of innovation and provide a competitivex000D
advantage.x000D
This project will support Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. by bring products to the market quickly, therebyx000D
increasing innovation, while at the same time reducing financial risk by increasing certainty in a design beforex000D
investments are made in tooling. The design of these highly technical products will require continuousx000D
long-term investment in research and development and the establishment of long-term relationships withx000D
research groups in the field of materials science.