Fiber-Reinforced Brake Disc Winding for Integrated Ventilation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for manufacturing brake discs from fibre-reinforced materials, such as carbon-carbon (CC) or carbon-ceramic (CCM), are operationally complex and expensive, particularly due to the delicate process of forming the green body and incorporating ventilation channels, which complicates the initial forming step and increases costs.
Innovation Solution
A method involving arranging chopped fibres on a transport film, impregnating them with binder resin, winding around a mandrel to form a cylindrical body, and heating to partially cross-link the resin, allowing for the creation of brake discs with ventilation channels without the need for internal cores, and optionally cutting the cylindrical body into slices for batch production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional methods are used to form the green body and incorporate ventilation channels, then the brake disc structure is achieved, but the manufacturing process becomes operationally complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by forming ventilation channels directly during the green body formation stage through the mandrel design, rather than incorporating them later. The mandrel itself is designed with channel-forming features that create ventilation passages as the brake disc is being formed, eliminating the need for separate core insertion and removal operations. This preliminary integration of ventilation channel formation into the main forming process directly reduces operational complexity while maintaining the required brake disc structure.
2Strength
If fibres are oriented according to specific directions to improve mechanical strength, then the mechanical properties are enhanced, but the forming process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies dynamics by using a mandrel that rotates during the forming process, allowing fibres to be deposited in controlled orientations through the rotation mechanism. The mandrel rotation enables fibres to be laid down at specific angles and patterns (such as circumferential, radial, or helical orientations) depending on the rotation speed and feed rate, achieving desired mechanical properties without complex fixed positioning systems. This dynamic approach simplifies the forming process while maintaining precise fibre orientation control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method simplifies the production process, reduces costs, and allows for flexible fibre orientation and composition, enabling efficient manufacturing of brake discs with improved mechanical strength and reduced operational complexity, while enabling the creation of brake discs with integrated ventilation channels and the option of producing braking bands and bells in one piece.
Implementation Method 1
heating the cylindrical body at temperatures and for a period of time such as to at least partially cross-link the binder resin so as to obtain a semi-finished cylindrical body
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for making brake discs of a fibre-reinforced material, each brake disc comprising a braking band having a predetermined thickness s, said method comprising the following operating steps: a) setting up a winding mandrel 10; b) forming at least one layer of fibres 20 having a predetermined width W; c) impregnating the layer of fibres with at least one binder resin; d) winding the layer of fibres impregnated with resin about the mandrel up to forming a coaxially hollow cylindrical body 30, having a predefined outer diameter De and an inner diameter Di substantially equivalent to diameter D1 of the mandrel, the layer of fibres being wound about the mandrel according to at least one winding direction substantially parallel to the direction of length L of layer 20; e) heating the cylindrical body to temperatures and for a period of time such as to at least partly cross-link the binder resin so as to obtain a solid semi-finished cylindrical body. In particular, the method comprises a step f) of cutting the semi-finished cylindrical body in slices transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body itself according to predetermined thicknesses s1, each slice being a disc-shaped body which defines at least the braking band of a brake disc.