Honeycomb Fired Body Contour Correction for Non-Uniform Shrinkage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional methods for manufacturing pillar-shaped honeycomb fired bodies fail to accurately account for non-uniform firing shrinkage, leading to dimensional inaccuracies and reduced yield, despite measuring external dimensions before and after firing.

Innovation Solution

A method involving precise measurement of distances from the center of the die to the outer peripheral side surface at predetermined angles, calculation of firing shrinkage, and adjustment of the annular mask's inner contour to compensate for non-uniform shrinkage, ensuring higher dimensional accuracy and yield.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If conventional external dimension measurement techniques are used to measure the honeycomb formed body and fired body, then the difference in external dimensions can be grasped, but the shrinkage amount cannot be accurately grasped leading to dimensional inaccuracy

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveshrinkage measurement accuracyVSAvoiddimensional accuracy of honeycomb fired body

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention divides the measurement process into multiple segments: measuring the green body dimensions before firing, measuring the fired body dimensions after firing, and calculating shrinkage for each specific portion (front surface, rear surface, left surface, right surface) rather than using a single average measurement. This segmentation allows accurate capture of non-uniform shrinkage characteristics.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention applies local quality by measuring and calculating shrinkage factors for different portions of the honeycomb formed body individually (front surface shrinkage factor, rear surface shrinkage factor, left surface shrinkage factor, right surface shrinkage factor). This recognizes that shrinkage is not uniform across the entire body and treats each portion's shrinkage characteristics separately to achieve accurate dimensional control.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Ease of manufacture

If the average shrinkage factor is calculated assuming uniform shrinkage, then the calculation process is simplified, but the dimensional accuracy of portions deviating from average shrinkage deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesimplicity of shrinkage calculationVSAvoiddimensional accuracy of honeycomb fired body

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention segments the shrinkage calculation into separate shrinkage factors for different portions (front, rear, left, right surfaces) rather than using a single average shrinkage factor. This segmentation maintains calculation simplicity for each individual portion while capturing the overall non-uniform shrinkage behavior, thereby improving dimensional accuracy without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of manufacture

If conventional extrusion molding with a standard annular mask is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the dimensional accuracy of the honeycomb fired body deteriorates due to unaccounted non-uniform shrinkage

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesimplicity of extrusion molding processVSAvoiddimensional accuracy of honeycomb fired body

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention applies preliminary action by calculating the shrinkage factors for different portions before the actual firing process, and using these pre-calculated factors to determine the appropriate green body dimensions. This allows the manufacturing process to account for non-uniform shrinkage in advance, ensuring dimensional accuracy of the final fired body while maintaining a relatively simple extrusion molding process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

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

Enables the production of pillar-shaped honeycomb fired bodies with high dimensional accuracy and improved productivity by accurately predicting and correcting for non-uniform shrinkage during the firing process.

Implementation Method 1

firing the first pillar-shaped honeycomb dried body to obtain a first pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectThermal heating: Heating

Implementation Method 2

Shrinkage occurs in the firing process of a honeycomb formed body

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectShrinkage: Thermal Contraction

Data Source

PatentUS12577175B2Method for manufacturing pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body

Publication Date: 2026.03.17 NGK INSULATORS LTD

AI summary

A method for manufacturing a pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body including: measuring a firing shrinkage at an end surface of a first pillar-shaped honeycomb firing body at every predetermined angle for one round based on a portion that has been located at the center of a die when a green body passes through the die, obtaining a second pillar-shaped honeycomb formed body having a corrected end surface contour by modifying an annular mask used for extrusion molding based on a result of the measuring, and then obtaining a second pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body by performing drying and firing.