Low-weight profiles and hoses having high flexural fatigue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current flexible hoses made from polymer blends are heavy, consume excessive raw materials, and have high production costs due to thick wall thickness, which compromises their weight and durability while maintaining desired specifications like flex life and memory.
Innovation Solution
A polymer material comprising a blend of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and very low-density polyethylene (VLDPE) with a reduced flexural modulus, allowing for thinner wall thickness without compromising flex life and memory, made from recycled or off-spec materials to reduce costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wall thickness of flexible hoses is increased to maintain flex life and memory, then the durability and memory are improved, but the weight and material consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the polymer material by incorporating specific ratios of VLDPE (30-70 wt%) and LLDPE (30-70 wt%) with controlled flexural modulus values. This parameter change allows achieving the required flex life and memory properties with reduced wall thickness, thereby reducing hose weight while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite polymer blend combining Very Low Density Polyethylene (VLDPE) and Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) in specific proportions. This composite material provides optimized mechanical properties including flex life, memory, and flexural modulus, enabling thinner wall designs that maintain durability while reducing weight
2Weight of moving object
If the wall thickness is reduced to decrease weight and material consumption, then the production costs are reduced, but the flex life and memory may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
By precisely controlling the composition parameters (VLDPE 30-70 wt%, LLDPE 30-70 wt%) and flexural modulus (50-200 MPa) of the polymer blend, the patent achieves optimal balance between wall thickness reduction and flex life maintenance, allowing thinner walls without compromising durability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the local material properties at the molecular level by selecting specific polymer combinations and ratios, creating a material structure that provides enhanced flex life and memory properties per unit thickness, enabling weight reduction while maintaining reliability
3Reliability
If traditional polymer blends are used to achieve desired flex life and memory, then the durability is maintained, but the material consumption and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the composition parameters by using VLDPE (30-70 wt%) and LLDPE (30-70 wt%) with specific flexural modulus ranges, achieving the required memory properties with reduced material quantity compared to traditional single-polymer or different-blend formulations
Solution Approach 2:
The VLDPE-LLDPE composite blend provides superior memory properties per unit mass compared to traditional polymer blends. The specific composition ratio optimizes the balance between material efficiency and performance, reducing overall polymer consumption while maintaining high memory values
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a profile made from a polymer material comprising a linear low-density polyethylene and a very low-density polyethylene having a specific range of flexural modulus, and to a flexible hose made from said profile. It is part of the invention that the profile wall thickness of the flexible hose is reduced while a sufficient and efficacious value for the flex life is maintained and while a sufficiently high memory is maintained, when compared to the common wall thickness of current hoses, such that the hose of the invention has a reduced weight while the durability and fatigue resistance of the hose is maintained at a sufficiently high value.