At 18:00 on May 5th, the Long March 5B carrier rocket successfully put the new-generation manned spacecraft test ship into the scheduled orbit, and the first flight mission was a complete success. This time, the new generation of manned spacecraft was also equipped with a new type of equipment independently developed by our scientific research team-"continuous fiber-reinforced composite space 3D printing equipment." In china, it was the first 3D printing experiment in space and the first international 3D printing experiment of continuous fiber composite materials in space. This landmark equipment was jointly developed by the Xi'an Jiaotong University scientific research team and the 529 Factory of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace.

In 2014, with the support of Academician Lu Bingheng, Professor Li Dichen and Tian Xiaoyong of the School of Mechanical Engineering proposed the 3D printing technology based on continuous fiber-reinforced composite materials. It wss the earliest R & D teamin china, engaged in continuous fiber reinforced composite 3D printing technology. The continuous fiber-reinforced composite material, which was carried this time, was the achievements of cooperation between the team of Academician Lu Bingheng and the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Engineering, costing nearly five years.

The prototype of the continuous fiber-reinforced composite space 3D printing ground verification principle developed by the team of Xi'an Jiaotong University

3D printing technology principle and typical parts of continuous fiber-reinforced composite materials

In the continuous fiber-reinforced composite materials 3D printing technology, raw materials are continuous dry fiber bundles and thermoplastic polymers, achieving composite impregnation and fused deposition of them using a self-developed print head. It realizes integrated preparation and forming of composite materials, and carris out research on composite material recycling & reprinting technology and 3D printing process in extreme environment. The research work provides original technology for 3D printing in space.