Composite Ring Gasket Molding With Minimal Machining Waste
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing method for ring-shaped gaskets in aircraft is inefficient due to high material waste and time-consuming machining and trimming operations, leading to increased costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A method using a prepreg composite material rod, with a mold having a female and male part with a groove, applying vacuum to debulk and cure the rod to form a ring-shaped gasket, reducing material waste and eliminating extensive machining and trimming processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If a flat mold with sheet prepreg is used to manufacture ring-shaped gaskets, then the gasket can be formed, but a large amount of material is wasted during machining and trimming operations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-forming the prepreg material into a rod shape that matches the desired ring-shaped gasket geometry before molding. This preliminary shaping eliminates the need for extensive material removal during machining and trimming operations, reducing material waste from 90% to minimal amounts while simplifying the manufacturing process
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of material form from flat sheet to preformed rod with ring-shaped cross-section. This parameter change allows the material to conform to the final product geometry from the outset, eliminating the need for subtractive manufacturing processes and significantly reducing material waste
2Manufacturing precision
If machining and trimming operations are performed on the cured sheet to obtain the desired shape, then the gasket achieves precise dimensions, but the manufacturing time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The rod is pre-formed with the exact ring-shaped cross-section and dimensions required for the final gasket before the molding process. This preliminary action ensures that the final curing step produces the precisely dimensioned gasket directly, eliminating time-consuming machining and trimming operations while maintaining manufacturing precision
3Ease of manufacture
If a sheet of prepreg is used instead of a preformed rod, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the amount of wasted material increases to around ninety percent
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameter of material form from flat sheet to preformed rod with ring-shaped cross-section. This parameter change maintains process simplicity by using a single-step molding operation while dramatically reducing material waste from 90% to minimal amounts by matching the material form to the final product geometry
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 approach significantly reduces material waste, shortens manufacturing time, and lowers costs by utilizing composite chips and minimizing machining operations, while ensuring high-quality gaskets with precise surface roughness and tolerances.
Implementation Method 1
applying vacuum to extract the air trapped and the excess of resin from the sheet
Implementation Method 2
curing the sheet
Data Source
Figure 1a~1e
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3f
AI summary
The invention refers to a method for manufacturing a ring-shaped gasket (1) for an aircraft, comprising the following steps: providing a rod (2) made of prepreg composite material; providing a mold (3) having a female part (4) and a male part (5), at least one of the parts (4, 5) having a groove (6) with the ring-shaped desired configuration; placing the rod (2) onto the female part (4) and set the male part (5) over the ring-shaped rod to obtain a ring-shaped preform (7); applying vacuum to debulk the ring-shaped preform (7); curing the ring-shaped preform (7) to obtain a ring-shaped cured preform (9); and demolding the ring-shaped cured preform (9) to thus obtain a ring-shaped gasket (1).