Rotating Preform Resin Injection for Pressure Tank Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing method for pressure tanks reinforced with fiber-reinforced plastics faces challenges in evenly impregnating resin into thickly laminated fiber preforms, often resulting in resin pressure concentration, deformation of the fiber or liner, and the formation of weld lines due to high injection pressures.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method and apparatus that involves rotating the preform within a mold during resin injection, using a gate with a larger initial gap that narrows after resin filling, and controlling mold temperature to facilitate resin flow and curing, thereby reducing injection pressure and preventing weld line formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If resin is injected at high pressure to promote impregnation in thickly laminated fiber, then resin impregnation is improved, but fiber or liner deformation occurs and weld lines are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The preform is rotated during resin injection, transforming the static injection process into a dynamic one. This rotation distributes the resin flow pressure across different locations of the preform over time, preventing concentration of pressure at any single point and thereby avoiding fiber deformation and weld line formation while ensuring uniform impregnation
Solution Approach 2:
The rotation of the preform creates periodic movement during resin injection. As the preform rotates, different regions sequentially pass under the injection gate, receiving resin in a distributed manner. This periodic action ensures that no single location is subjected to continuous high pressure, thus preventing deformation while maintaining thorough impregnation
2Productivity
If resin is injected at high pressure to fill the mold, then filling speed is improved, but pressure concentration at one point directly below the gate occurs
Solution Approach 1:
By rotating the preform during injection, the system dynamically redistributes the injection pressure over time and space. The mold filling speed is maintained through continuous rotation, while the pressure concentration problem is solved by ensuring that no single point remains stationary under the gate for the entire injection duration
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating preform itself serves to distribute the resin flow. The movement of the preform creates self-distribution of resin pressure, eliminating the need for additional mechanisms to control pressure concentration while maintaining efficient mold filling
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 approach ensures uniform resin impregnation and curing within the fiber layer at lower pressures, suppressing deformation and weld line generation, while also shortening manufacturing time and improving surface smoothness.
Implementation Method 1
rotating the preform in a circumferential direction within the mold with a central axis of the preform as a rotation center while resin is injected toward the preform disposed within the mold from a gate
Implementation Method 2
the resin is cured by heating the fiber in which the resin is impregnated
Implementation Method 3
the resin is cured by heating the fiber in which the resin is impregnated
Data Source
AI summary
A manufacturing method for a pressure tank includes disposing a preform, in which a fiber layer is formed on an outer surface of a liner that forms an internal space of a pressure tank, within a mold, and rotating the preform in a circumferential direction within the mold with a central axis of the preform as a rotation center while resin is injected toward the preform disposed within the mold from a gate.