Fiber Spreading Method for Uniform Carbon Fiber Sheet Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fiber spreading technologies face challenges in uniformly distributing and expanding carbon fiber bundles with a large number of fibers, leading to uneven adhesion, entanglement, and difficulty in achieving wide and thin spread fiber sheets with stable fiber distribution.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a movable region with multiple pairs of fiber-spreading and expansion regions, where fibers are bent and moved in the width direction by a fluid, with specific settings for spread width and length ratios to ensure uniform distribution and prevent entanglement, using contact rolls and vibration mechanisms to maintain fiber straightness and distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of fibers in a carbon fiber bundle is increased to reduce price and increase productivity, then the fineness of the fiber bundle increases and cost decreases, but the fibers become more meandering and tangled making uniform spreading difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber bundle spreading process is divided into multiple sequential spreading regions (first spreading region, second spreading region, etc.) with progressively increasing spread widths. This segmentation allows the dense fiber bundle to be gradually dispersed rather than attempting to spread it all at once, preventing tangling and achieving uniform distribution even with high-fineness bundles containing 48,000 or more fibers.
Solution Approach 2:
Before the main spreading operation, the fiber bundle undergoes preliminary bending and loosening in the expansion region upstream of each spreading region. This preliminary action creates space between fibers and reduces initial tangling, preparing the bundle for more effective spreading in the subsequent region and improving overall uniformity.
2Device complexity
If a fluid is used to bend and spread the fiber bundle in a single region, then the spreading process is simplified, but the fibers cannot be uniformly distributed and entanglement occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The spreading device is structured with multiple spreading regions arranged sequentially in the fiber bundle feeding direction, each with progressively larger spread widths. This segmented approach maintains relatively simple device structure while achieving uniform fiber distribution through the cumulative effect of multiple spreading stages.
Solution Approach 2:
Each spreading region has a different spread width characteristic, with the first region having a smaller spread width and subsequent regions having progressively larger spread widths. This local variation in spreading intensity allows different parts of the fiber bundle to be treated differently, achieving uniform overall distribution.
3Productivity
If the fiber bundle is spread to a large width in a single step, then productivity increases and processing time is reduced, but the fiber distribution becomes uneven and the sheet thickness is non-uniform
Solution Approach 1:
The spreading process is segmented into multiple regions with progressively increasing spread widths. The first spreading region creates an initial spread, and subsequent regions progressively expand the width while maintaining uniform fiber distribution. This achieves both high productivity (final wide sheet) and high precision (uniform thickness).
Solution Approach 2:
Each spreading region is preceded by an expansion region that performs preliminary bending and loosening of the fiber bundle. This preliminary action ensures that when the fiber bundle enters the spreading region, the fibers are properly positioned for uniform distribution, preventing thickness non-uniformity even as the overall sheet width increases.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple spreading regions are arranged in sequence with progressively increasing spread widths, then uniform fiber distribution is achieved, but the device complexity and length increase
Solution Approach 1:
The spreading device uses a dynamic progression of spread widths across multiple regions, with each region optimized for its specific spreading task. This dynamic approach achieves uniform fiber distribution more efficiently than a single static spreading region, while the modular nature of the regions allows for compact arrangement that minimizes overall device length.
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 method allows for continuous formation of wide and thin spread fiber sheets with uniform thickness and excellent fiber distribution, enabling efficient impregnation with resin and improved dynamic characteristics of the fiber-reinforced sheets.
Implementation Method 1
moving the fibers in a width direction while bending the fibers by letting a fluid pass through the fiber bundle
Implementation Method 2
using contact rolls and vibration mechanisms to maintain fiber straightness and distribution
Implementation Method 3
using contact rolls and vibration mechanisms to maintain fiber straightness and distribution
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention has an object to provide a fiber-spreading method which can form a thin spread fiber sheet having a large and uniform spread width by uniformly distributing fibers of a fiber bundle having an increased number of fibers. Since a set of regions Si each including a pair of a fiber-spreading region Ai and an expansion region Bi are arranged in a movable region M set so that the fibers of the fiber bundle can move in the width direction, the fiber-spreading region Ai moving the fibers in the width direction while bending the fibers by letting a fluid pass through the fiber bundle, thereby spreading the fiber bundle to a spread width Wi (i=1, . . . , n), and the expansion region Bi which is set on the upstream side in the feeding direction corresponding to the fiber-spreading region Ai and in which the width of the fiber bundle expands toward the end with movement of the fibers in the width direction in the fiber-spreading region Ai, by performing pre-spreading in which a movement phenomenon in the width direction caused by distribution of the fibers of the fiber bundle occurring in the fiber-spreading region Ai is made to act on the expansion region Bi on the upstream side, the fibers can be uniformly distributed in the fiber-spreading region Ai and the spread width can be expanded to a predetermined width so as to make the thickness uniform.