Composite Structural Member with Foam Core and Fibre Tow Loops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional structural members, such as wishbone and dogbone shaped components, are often heavy and costly due to their metal composition, which limits their use in applications requiring lightness and rigidity, such as vehicles and aircraft, where weight reduction is essential for efficiency and payload capacity.
Innovation Solution
A fibre-reinforced composite structural member featuring a core portion with anchor points, surrounded by a loop of continuous fibre tow and a protective shell, impregnated with resin, providing improved strength and resistance to tension, compression, and bending, while maintaining a low cost through the use of a low fibre volume material for the core.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal structural members are used, then strength and rigidity are achieved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite material construction consisting of a foam core portion combined with fibre tow loops and resin impregnation. This composite structure achieves the required strength and rigidity while significantly reducing weight compared to traditional metal structural members, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
2Weight of moving object
If woven carbon fibre material is used to form structural members, then weight is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The structural member is segmented into distinct functional components: a foam core portion providing bulk structure, fibre tow loops providing reinforcement at critical locations, and resin providing binding. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and assembled efficiently, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining lightweight properties.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using expensive woven carbon fibre throughout the entire structural member, the patent applies fibre tow loops only at specific locations where strength is most needed, while the bulk of the structure uses lighter foam material. This local quality approach reduces material costs while maintaining overall structural integrity and weight savings.
3Strength
If fibre tow is arranged in closed loops, then resistance to tension and compression is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The foam core portion serves as an intermediary element that simplifies the manufacturing process. The fibre tow loops are attached to the foam core, which then serves as a pre-formed substrate for resin impregnation. This intermediary approach reduces manufacturing complexity by providing a structured base that organizes the fibre tow loops and facilitates uniform resin distribution, while still achieving excellent resistance to tension and compression through the fibre reinforcement.
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
The structural member achieves excellent performance under various loads, allowing for efficient connection and positioning of components with reduced weight and cost, enhancing the structural integrity and payload capacity of vehicles and aircraft.
Implementation Method 1
in which the core, fibre tow and the protective shell are impregnated and bound together by a cured resin
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a structural member comprising: a core portion that defines at least one anchor point, the core having at least one surface, a fibre tow arranged in a closed loop on the surface of the core portion, the loop defining a boundary of a space which contains the at least one anchor point, and a protective shell formed from a woven fibre sheet material which covers the fibre tow, and in which the core, fibre tow and the protective shell are impregnated and bound together by a cured resin. The invention also relates to a method of constructing a structural member.