Segmented Pressure Roller for Curved Composite Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pressure application rollers are unsuitable for laying down fibre strips on moulding tools with severe local curvature and cannot withstand high temperatures, limiting their use in advanced composite component manufacturing processes like TFP (Tailored Fibre Placement).
Innovation Solution
A pressure application roller unit composed of multiple segments that can be displaced and spring-mounted, allowing for automated guidance on curved surfaces and temperature resistance up to 450°C, with elastic sleeves for height compensation and reduced adhesion risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an inflexible pressure application roller is used, then the roller maintains stable shape and structural integrity, but it cannot adapt to highly curved moulding tool surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure application roller is divided into multiple independent roller segments that can move relative to each other along the shaft. This segmentation allows the roller to adapt to curved surfaces while each segment maintains its structural integrity. The segments are mounted on a shaft and can displace independently to conform to the moulding tool geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The roller segments are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing dynamic adaptation to different surface curvatures. The segments can displace along the shaft to match the local geometry of the moulding tool, providing both adaptability and maintaining stability through controlled movement.
2Ease of operation
If fibre strips are heated to high temperatures for thermoplastic processing, then the fibre strips gain sufficient flexibility for laying down, but adhesion problems and material degradation occur
Solution Approach 1:
An elastic sleeve is provided on the pressure application roller segments to create a flexible interface between the roller and fibre strip. This elastic layer accommodates thermal expansion and contraction of the fibre strips at high temperatures while maintaining contact pressure, preventing adhesion issues and material degradation through compliant interaction.
3Adaptability or versatility
If an elastic pressure application roller is used for highly curved surfaces, then the roller can adapt to complex geometries, but the roller loses shape stability at higher temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The roller is segmented into multiple independent units mounted on a shaft, allowing each segment to adapt locally to surface curvature while the overall structure maintains stability through the rigid shaft framework. This segmentation enables thermal expansion without losing overall shape control.
Solution Approach 2:
An elastic sleeve is added to the roller segments to provide the necessary flexibility for adapting to curved surfaces while protecting the core structure from thermal deformation. The elastic layer acts as a thermal buffer, maintaining shape stability at high temperatures while enabling geometric adaptation.
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 reliable, reproducible laying down of fibre strips on complex geometries with low manufacturing costs, maintaining fibre alignment and mechanical properties while accommodating highly curved surfaces and high temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
The pressure application roller (7) is provided with an elastic sleeve (36), at least in some regions, in order to compensate for height differences in a simple manner
Implementation Method 2
All roller segments are accommodated in a sprung manner in the pressure application roller unit (2), in each case parallel to the z-axis
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a pressure application roller unit 2 for the laying down of fiber strips 80 on a surface 82, with a pressure application roller 7 mounted in a mounting unit 35 such that it can rotate about a shaft 10. In accordance with the invention the pressure application roller 7 is subdivided into a multiplicity of roller segments 4, 6 arranged next to one another, which in each case are mounted in the mounting unit 35 such that they can be displaced.As a consequence of this configuration an optimal adaptability of the pressure application roller unit 2 to a surface 82 of a molding tool 84 that is curved in one or two dimensions is provided. By this means the pressure application roller unit 2 can be guided by means of a robot arm 102, even over molding tool surfaces that are more highly spherically curved in some sections. The individual mounting of the individual roller segments 4, 6, embodied such that they can be displaced vertically in a sprung manner, allows a height compensation of up to 10 mm, which enables any immediate track correction of the robot arm 102 that would otherwise be necessary to be dispensed with. In addition the pressure application roller unit 2 generates a defined pressure application force with which the fiber strip 80 is pressed onto the surface 82 of the molding tool 84. The pressure application roller unit 2 is equally suitable for the processing of pre-impregnated fiber strips (so-called pre-preg strips) with a thermoplastic or a thermosetting plastic matrix, since a resistance to temperatures of up to 450° C. is provided.