Circular Needle Loom Positioning for High-Fiber Textile Preforms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for manufacturing circular preforms, particularly carbon/carbon brake disks, face inefficiencies in production processes due to the use of brush bed plates, which result in lower fiber volume, increased maintenance, and part-to-part variations, leading to reduced quality and higher costs.
Innovation Solution
A circular needle loom with a stationary bed plate and engagement members that rotate the spiral textile around the bed plate, utilizing a positional structure such as sacrificial edges or fiber loops to secure and position the textile, allowing for efficient layering and needling, thereby increasing fiber volume and reducing production time and waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a brush bed plate is used for needling, then the bed plate is compliant and can accommodate thicker fibrous structures, but the preforms have lower than desirable fiber volume and require extra maintenance and cleaning steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the brush layer from the bed plate surface, extracting the problematic compliant surface that caused fiber embedding. The smooth bed plate without brushes eliminates the source of the problem while maintaining the needling function through the needle punches directly contacting the fabric.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a compliant brush surface to accommodate thick structures, the patent inverts the approach by using a rigid smooth surface and relying on the needle punches and fabric positioning mechanisms to provide the necessary compliance and accommodation.
2Ease of operation
If a brush bed plate is used, then the bed plate can be utilized for needling, but maintenance and cleaning create extra steps that substantially add to manufacturing time
Solution Approach 1:
The brush maintenance and cleaning steps are eliminated by removing the brush component entirely from the bed plate design. The smooth bed plate requires no maintenance or cleaning, directly reducing manufacturing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The smooth bed plate is self-maintaining and requires no cleaning or maintenance operations. The design inherently eliminates the maintenance burden that plagues brush bed plates.
3Ease of operation
If a brush bed plate is used, then needling can be performed, but the characteristics of the brush change over time resulting in higher part to part characteristic variations
Solution Approach 1:
The variable brush characteristics are eliminated by removing the brush component. The smooth bed plate provides consistent, repeatable surface properties that do not change over time, improving part-to-part consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The bed plate surface properties are changed from compliant and variable (brush) to rigid and consistent (smooth). This parameter change eliminates the drift in characteristics that occurs with brush wear.
4Productivity
If a stationary bed plate is used with engagement members, then the spiral textile can be rotated and positioned efficiently, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement members serve multiple functions: they attach the fabric to the bed plate, rotate the fabric with the bed plate, and facilitate easy removal of the finished preform. This multi-functionality achieves high productivity without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement members are positioned at multiple locations around the bed plate perimeter, creating equipotential attachment points that ensure uniform fabric rotation and positioning throughout the needling process.
Data Source
AI summary
In various embodiments, the present disclosure relates generally to a method for needling a spiral textile to create a needled preform, the method comprising receiving the spiral textile on a bed plate of a circular needle loom, engaging a positional structure of the spiral textile, rotating the spiral textile around the circular needle loom, depositing a predetermined number of layers of the spiral textile on the bed plate, and needling the spiral textile to create the needled preform. Moreover, the present disclosure also provides, in various embodiments, a method for creating a circular needled preform from a spiral textile, comprising attaching sacrificial fibers to at least one of the weft tow and the plurality of warp tows proximate at least one of the inside diameter and the outside diameter, and engaging the sacrificial fibers with an engagement mechanism on a circular needle loom.