Composite Laminate Shaping via Fiber Orientation Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing composite material members, such as aircraft wings and fuselages, using prepreg materials often result in wrinkles due to the inability of these materials to stretch in the direction of fiber orientation, particularly at corner portions where differences in length between web and flange components are not absorbable.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method involving a laminate of prepreg sheets with specific fiber orientations, including a first layer where fibers are oriented in a single direction and discontinuous at cuts, allowing for easier shaping and minimizing wrinkle formation by using a mold to form flanges and webs without generating tension that causes wrinkles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a prepreg material is used to manufacture a composite material member with beads, then the rigidity of the member is improved, but wrinkles are generated at corner portions of the beads due to the inability of the material to stretch in the fiber direction
Solution Approach 1:
The prepreg sheet is divided into multiple layers with different fiber orientations. The first layer has fibers oriented in the longitudinal direction (parallel to the bead), while the second layer has fibers oriented in the lateral direction (perpendicular to the bead). This segmentation allows each layer to handle different stress components, with the longitudinal layer providing rigidity and the lateral layer accommodating dimensional changes without wrinkling.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the composite structure are reinforced with fibers oriented in different directions. At the bead corner portions where wrinkles typically form, the lateral fiber orientation in the second layer provides local flexibility to accommodate the dimensional mismatch between the web and flange, preventing wrinkle generation while the longitudinal fibers in the first layer maintain the required rigidity.
2Strength
If the actual length of the web is made longer than the actual length of the flange to provide beads, then the rigidity is improved, but the difference in length cannot be absorbed by the prepreg material, causing wrinkles
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber orientation parameter is changed between layers to achieve different mechanical properties. The first layer uses longitudinal fiber orientation to provide rigidity and maintain the extended web length, while the second layer uses lateral fiber orientation to provide dimensional flexibility that absorbs the length difference between web and flange, enabling easier shaping without wrinkles.
Solution Approach 2:
A composite laminate structure is created by combining prepreg sheets with different fiber orientations. This composite approach allows the structure to simultaneously exhibit both rigidity (from longitudinal fibers) and flexibility (from lateral fibers), resolving the contradiction between maintaining extended geometry for rigidity and accommodating dimensional mismatches for ease of manufacture.
3Ease of manufacture
If cuts are made in the prepreg material at corner portions to absorb length difference, then shaping becomes easier, but fiber continuity is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The solution moves from a two-dimensional planar prepreg sheet to a three-dimensional laminated structure. By stacking multiple layers with different fiber orientations, the patent achieves wrinkle prevention and shaping ease without making cuts in any single layer, thereby maintaining fiber continuity within each layer while accommodating dimensional differences through the layered architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A manufacturing method of composite material member includes a step of shaping a laminate including laminated prepreg sheets along a mold. The laminate includes a first layer in which fibers are oriented in single direction. In the first layer, a first surface crossing the single direction and a second surface crossing the single direction are confronted each other such that the first surface and the second surface face each other. Since the fibers are discontinuous between the first surface and the second surface, the laminate is easily shaped and wrinkles are hard to be generated in a composite material member to be manufactured from the laminate.