AM Support Tool Assembly for Lightweight Dimensional Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support tools for large-scale manufacturing, such as aircraft components, are heavy, costly, and prone to dimensional instability due to their large size and material limitations, making them difficult to transport and maintain without cracking or warping.
Innovation Solution
A tool assembly comprising a rigid support frame with additive manufactured support tools, featuring a faceplate and supporting grid structure, which transfers loads through support beams to maintain dimensional stability and is designed for transportation without damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a large metal plate support tool is used to support large working components, then the support tool can provide sufficient structural strength and stability, but the weight and manufacturing cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The support tool is divided into multiple components: a faceplate, a supporting grid structure with vertical supports, and a backing structure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, reducing overall weight while maintaining structural strength through the distributed grid architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting grid structure employs a porous or open-cell architecture with vertical supports spaced throughout the faceplate. This porous structure significantly reduces material usage and weight compared to solid metal plates, while the vertical supports provide necessary structural reinforcement to maintain strength.
2Strength
If traditional metal support tools are used, then sufficient strength is achieved, but manufacturing complexity and time increase due to custom machining and assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The faceplate and supporting grid structure are merged into a single monolithic component manufactured through additive manufacturing. This eliminates the need for separate machining operations and assembly steps required by traditional metal support tools, significantly simplifying manufacturing while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing method transitions from traditional subtractive machining of metal plates to additive manufacturing of polymer or composite materials. This parameter change in manufacturing approach enables complex grid structures to be created directly without expensive custom machining operations.
3Weight of moving object
If additive manufactured support tools are used, then weight and manufacturing cost are reduced, but dimensional stability and rigidity are insufficient for large-scale applications
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical supports are strategically positioned at locations where structural reinforcement is most needed, providing local quality enhancement. This allows the additive manufactured structure to achieve dimensional stability and rigidity at critical points without requiring uniform thickening of the entire faceplate, thus maintaining weight reduction benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The support tool utilizes composite materials, such as fiber-reinforced polymers, in the additive manufacturing process. This provides enhanced rigidity and dimensional stability comparable to metal while maintaining the weight advantages of non-metallic materials, making the structure suitable for large-scale applications.
4Shape
If thick metal plates are used to create contoured surfaces, then the supporting surface can accommodate complex contours, but the weight and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of achieving contoured surfaces through increased thickness in the vertical dimension, the patent uses the additive manufacturing capability to directly create complex three-dimensional contours in the faceplate itself. This allows sophisticated surface geometry to be achieved without proportionally increasing weight, as the contours are integrated into the lattice structure rather than requiring substantial material thickness.
Data Source
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AI summary
A tool assembly (100) includes a support frame (102) including support beams (140) and support mounts (144) supporting the support beams. The support frame is rigid and used to transport the tool assembly. A support tool (104) is supported by the support frame and includes a faceplate (110) and a supporting grid structure (112) formed with the faceplate as a monolithic structure defined by a series of AM layers (114). The faceplate has a supporting surface (116) at a top (120) of the support tool for supporting a working component (106). The supporting grid structure engages the support beams such that loads are transferred between the support tool and the support frame through the support beams. The support frame maintains dimensional stability of the support tool during transport and when resting within an allowable tolerance of the support tool.