Composite Driveshaft Shaping for Sharp Flexible Corner Radii
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manufacturing methods for composite driveshafts are limited in producing sharp angles or small corner radii between flexible elements, which are necessary for optimal bending and axial compliance, due to fabrication limitations in automated fiber placement technology.
Innovation Solution
The method involves forming a preliminary composite driveshaft on a temporary mandrel using automated fiber placement, followed by a post-treatment process to compress and modify the shape, allowing for the creation of sharp angles or small corner radii between flexible elements, which cannot be achieved directly with existing AFP technology.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If automated fiber placement technology is used to manufacture composite driveshafts, then manufacturing precision and fiber placement accuracy are improved, but the ability to produce sharp angles or small corner radii between flexible elements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is divided into two distinct stages: first, automated fiber placement creates the preliminary composite driveshaft with initial geometry; second, a post-treatment compression process modifies the shape to achieve sharp angles or small corner radii. This segmentation allows each process to optimize for its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated fiber placement process first establishes the preliminary geometry and fiber orientation of the driveshaft before the final shape modification. This preliminary action ensures that fibers are correctly positioned and bonded, and subsequent compression modifies the macro-geometry without disrupting the fiber placement quality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the geometry of flexible elements is modified to achieve sharp angles or small corner radii, then bending and axial compliance are improved, but fiber breakage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
Fibers are placed and bonded in their final orientation during the automated fiber placement stage, ensuring correct fiber alignment before any geometric modification. This preliminary fiber placement prevents fiber breakage during subsequent compression because the fibers are already secured in their load-bearing configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The process separates fiber placement from shape modification into distinct sequential steps. The first step establishes fiber integrity through automated placement and bonding, while the second step modifies the macro-geometry of the cured composite structure, thereby preventing fiber damage that would occur if shape modification attempted to simultaneously create sharp angles during fiber laying.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional manufacturing methods are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but design flexibility and performance optimization are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing approach is segmented into two independent processes: automated fiber placement for creating the composite structure, followed by mechanical compression for shape modification. This segmentation preserves the simplicity and automation benefits of AFP while adding design flexibility through post-treatment, enabling sharp angles and small corner radii that were previously unachievable.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state and geometric parameters of the composite driveshaft after fiber placement by applying compression forces during post-treatment. This parameter change allows the material to achieve sharp angles and small corner radii without requiring complex or manual manufacturing processes, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while significantly increasing design flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible composite driveshaft is formed by modifying the shape of a preliminary composite driveshaft. A fiber tape is applied to a temporary mandrel using automated fiber placement to form a preliminary composite driveshaft having a flexible shaft element with an initial geometry. The temporary mandrel from the preliminary composite driveshaft is removed and the initial geometry of the flexible shaft element is modified to form the flexible composite driveshaft having a flexible shaft element with a final geometry.