Fiber-Reinforced Resin Plate Spring Molding and Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing method of producing plate springs made of fiber-reinforced resin involves individual molding, which can lead to nonuniform pressure distribution and unstable end portions, affecting the performance and life of the springs.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the molding of a mother plate with continuous fibers oriented in a specific direction, followed by determining and cutting parallel lines to produce multiple plate springs, thereby reducing molding steps and minimizing nonuniformities at the cut surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If plate springs are individually molded using fiber-reinforced resin, then each spring can be produced independently, but nonuniform pressure distribution occurs at cavity end portions leading to unstable properties
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple plate springs are merged into a single molded mother plate containing multiple cavities, allowing simultaneous production while maintaining uniform fiber orientation and pressure distribution across all springs through the shared molding process
2Productivity
If multiple plate springs are produced by individual molding, then production flexibility is maintained, but the number of molding steps increases reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple molding operations are merged into a single molding step that produces a mother plate containing multiple plate springs simultaneously, thereby increasing productivity while the subsequent cutting step simplifies the overall process by enabling batch production
3Ease of manufacture
If the mother plate is cut perpendicular to fiber orientation, then plate springs can be separated, but fiber nonuniformity occurs at cut surfaces affecting performance
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting direction is deliberately aligned with the fiber orientation direction rather than being perpendicular to it, creating an asymmetric cutting approach that preserves fiber continuity and uniformity at cut surfaces, thereby maintaining performance stability
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting parameters are optimized by changing the cutting direction to match the fiber orientation, which prevents fiber disruption and maintains the structural integrity and uniformity of the cut surfaces
Data Source
AI summary
A method of producing plate springs for a railcar bogie, the plate springs each extending in a car longitudinal direction and elastically supporting a cross beam while being supported by an axle box in the railcar bogie, the axle box accommodating a bearing for an axle, the method includes: a molding step of molding a mother plate made of fiber-reinforced resin, the mother plate including a layer made of continuous fibers oriented in a first direction when viewed from a normal direction of a main surface of the mother plate; a cut position determining step of determining positions of a plurality of parallel cut lines for cutting the mother plate along the first direction; and a cutting step of cutting the mother plate along the plurality of cut lines to take out the plate springs made of the fiber-reinforced resin.