SBIR Phase I: CAS: Biomimetic 3D Printed Metal Mold to Mass Produce Dry-Pressed, Modular, Biophilic Concrete Reef Substrate

SBIR 第一阶段：CAS：仿生 3D 打印金属模具，用于批量生产干压、模块化、亲生物混凝土珊瑚礁基底

• 批准号: 2334667
• 负责人: Evelyn Tickle
• 金额: $ 27.5万
• 依托单位: GROW OYSTER REEFS, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2334667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; CAS; Biomimetic; 3D

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on the development of an innovative 3D printed metal mold that works with industry standard concrete block production machinery to mass produce dry-cast, nature-based, concrete reef restoration substrate units. These modular units will be suitable for use for shoreline protection and ecosystem restoration along estuaries, rivers and vulnerable coastlines. Offshore, these units will provide the US offshore wind industry with the means to restore the seabed, while protecting cables, creating sanctuary reefs, increasing biodiversity, and improving water quality. Produced by existing concrete block manufacturers in coastal locations, or on-site, using the novel metal molds, the substrates, located in the inter-tidal zone attract and protect embryonic shellfish including oysters, mussels and clams, and a multitude of other aquatic organisms including crabs, fish, and submerged aquatic vegetation. In deep water, the same substrate units attract abundant cold-water corals and sponges. Working with nature, these units can help protect coastal communities from the impact of climate change, storm surge, rising water levels, and erosion — creating jobs in concrete fabrication, restoring wetlands, reviving fisheries and commercial aquaculture, and increasing revenues from tourism — with reefs teeming with life. This SBIR Phase 1 project encompasses the design and fabrication of an intricate 3-D printed steel mold suitable for the production of dry pressed, biophilic concrete, modular shoreline protection and aquatic ecosystem restoration units. This project addresses considerations of ecological impacts, technical constraints in the concrete industry and both offshore and coastal infrastructure construction practices. Additive metal manufacturing will be used to fabricate the mold. Biomimetics, learning from the reef-building capacities of oysters, corals and other calcitic organisms, will inform the geometrically complex surfaces of the dry-cast, calcium carbonate rich, modular unit produced by the mold. The cast will resemble the benthic topography of a reef, providing a stable substrate for larvae that supports their growth from spat to maturity, providing protection from predators. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations will be used to examine water flow within and around the larval settlement surfaces. The unit will include fissures, cavities, cracks and crevices, dimples, linear channels, and large and small holes to provide a variety of interstitial spaces at multiple scales (micro and macro) that sustain multi-species cooperation in a diverse aquatic ecosystem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I阶段项目的重点是开发创新的3D印刷金属模具，该金属模具与行业标准混凝土块生产机械配合使用，以大规模生产干燥，基于自然的，基于自然的混凝土礁恢复基板。这些模块化单元适用于沿河口，河流和脆弱海岸线的海岸线保护和生态系统修复。在海上，这些单元将为美国离岸风车行业提供恢复海床的手段，同时保护电缆，创建庇护礁，提高生物多样性并提高水质。由现有的混凝土块制造商在沿海位置或现场使用新颖的金属模具，位于潮汐间区域中的底物吸引和保护胚胎贝类，包括牡蛎，贻贝和蛤，以及许多其他水上生物体，包括螃蟹，鱼类和层次的水生蔬菜。在深水中，相同的底物单元吸引了丰富的冷水珊瑚和海绵。这些单位与自然合作，可以帮助保护沿海社区免受气候变化，风暴潮，水位上升和侵蚀的影响 - 在混凝土制造，恢复湿地，复兴的渔业和商业水产养殖中创造就业机会，并越来越多地揭示了旅游业的揭示 - 随着珊瑚礁的生命而着称。这个SBIR第1阶段项目涵盖了复杂的3D印刷钢模具的设计和制造，适合生产干燥的，生物液混凝土，模块化海岸线保护和水生生态系统修复单元。该项目涉及对生态影响，混凝土行业的技术限制以及海上和沿海基础设施建设实践的考虑。添加金属制造将用于制造模具。仿生剂，从牡蛎，珊瑚和其他钙质生物的礁石建造能力中学习，将为霉菌产生的碳酸钙富含碳酸钙富含碳酸钙富含钙的模块化单位的几何复杂表面提供信息。演员阵容将类似于礁石的底栖形态，为幼虫提供稳定的底物，支持其从吐口到成熟的增长，从而保护捕食者。计算流体动力学（CFD）模拟将用于检查幼虫设置表面内外的水流。该单元将包括裂缝，空腔，裂缝和缝隙，酒窝，线性通道以及大小的小孔，以在多个尺度上（微观和宏）提供各种间隙空间，这些空间在多样性的生态系统中维持多种物种的合作。这种奖项反映了NSF的法定任务和审查的良好依据，这是通过评估良好的依据来评估的。