Infrared Permeable Disk for Uniform Preform Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
The automated production of fiber glass reinforced or carbon fiber reinforced components for aircraft structural components faces challenges in achieving uniform heating of fiber layers, leading to inconsistent component properties due to environmental fluctuations and inefficient heating processes.
Innovation Solution
A device with a supply unit for continuous fiber layer supply and a heating unit using an infrared heater with a permeable disk to create a protected space for uniform heating, combined with a flow channel and adjustable infrared radiation for precise temperature control, reduces environmental influence and ensures consistent heating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If fiber layers are heated using a freely positioned infrared heater, then heating can be applied directly to the fiber layers, but environmental temperature fluctuations substantially affect the heating quality and cause non-uniform heating
Solution Approach 1:
A disk permeable to infrared radiation is introduced as an intermediary between the infrared heater and the fiber layers. This disk creates a protected space that shields the fiber layers from environmental fluctuations while allowing infrared radiation to pass through, thereby maintaining stable and uniform heating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The disk creates an inert or protected environment between the heater and the workpiece, isolating the heating process from harmful environmental factors such as temperature fluctuations, drafts, and contamination, thus improving heating reliability and uniformity.
2Device complexity
If simple radiation heating is used without a protected space, then the heating process is simple, but uniform heating of fiber layers cannot be achieved and excessive heating of partial regions occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The infrared-permeable disk serves as a mediator that distributes the infrared radiation more evenly across the fiber layers while preventing hot spots and excessive localized heating, thereby achieving uniform heating without substantially increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The disk modifies the radiation parameters by filtering and distributing the infrared energy more uniformly across the target area, changing the spatial distribution of heating parameters to achieve better heating uniformity.
3Ease of manufacture
If infrared heater is freely positioned over fiber layer, then setup is simple, but the protected space is not created and environmental influences have substantial effect
Solution Approach 1:
The disk is positioned between the heater and fiber layers to create a protected space that blocks harmful environmental factors such as drafts and temperature fluctuations, while the heater itself can remain in a relatively simple fixed position above the disk.
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 solution enables the production of preforms with uniformly high component properties by maintaining stable and uniform heating, improving process quality and reducing the impact of environmental fluctuations.
Implementation Method 1
a heating unit with at least one infrared heater which has an infrared radiation source. The supplied layer structure is passed through the heating unit in a conveying direction and heated there over at least part of its width in cross section by the at least one infrared heater
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments relate to a device for the production of preforms for aircraft structural components, having a supply unit for the continuous supply of a layer structure with at least one fiber layer, having a heating unit with at least one infrared heater which has an infrared radiation source, wherein the supplied layer structure is passed through the heating unit in a conveying direction and can be heated there over at least part of its width in cross section by the at least one infrared heater, a disk which is permeable to infrared radiation being arranged between the layer structure and the infrared heater.