Assistant Professor University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials
Future unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for defense, logistics, and field operations demand airframes that are lightweight, rapidly manufacturable, and capable of surviving repeated impacts or losses. Traditional composite lay-up and filament winding are too slow and rigid to support attritable platforms that must be produced, deployed, and repaired near the point of need. Three-Dimensional Fiber Tethering (3DFiT) offers a transformative approach to meeting these requirements by enabling direct, mold-free fabrication of continuous-fiber architectures with built-in crash resistance and rapid repairability.
3DFiT forms free-standing unibody frames by tethering and looping continuous fiber tows between spatial nodes according to optimized load paths. The process merges truss and shell functions into a single hierarchical lattice that efficiently redistributes impact energy while maintaining structural integrity. Without molds or adhesive bonding, full frame structures can be fabricated in minutes and re-tethered in the field for restoration or reuse—an essential capability for attritable air systems.
An integrated design-to-manufacture pipeline couples CAD-based topology optimization, robotic tethering with vision-based guidance, and automated toolpath correction for precise free-form deposition. Prototype quadcopter frames fabricated by 3DFiT exhibit exceptional impact survivability, sustaining multiple 10–20 m drop events with no catastrophic failure and maintaining flight readiness after quick section-level repair.
This presentation will detail (1) the structural design principles enabling crash-resistant 3DFiT architectures, (2) the automation and control strategies for rapid frame fabrication, and (3) mechanical and flight test results demonstrating repeatable damage tolerance.
3DFiT establishes a new manufacturing pathway for attritable, mission-ready drone structures—offering scalable, low-cost production of composite airframes that combine high strength, rapid build speed, and repair-on-demand capability for both defense and commercial applications.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the principles of Three-Dimensional Fiber Tethering (3DFiT) and its advantages over traditional composite fabrication for rapid drone frame production.
Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate how topology optimization and robotic tethering enable free-form continuous-fiber architectures with integrated crash resistance and structural efficiency.
Upon completion, participants will be able to evaluate how 3DFiT supports attritable, field-repairable airframes for defense and commercial unmanned systems through rapid fabrication and modular repair strategies.
