Segmented Tooling for Curved Composite Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of tooling for rigid panels with embedded electrical conductors or fluid passages in gas turbine engines is delayed until the final design is complete, leading to prolonged design-to-manufacture timelines and costly modifications.
Innovation Solution
The method involves creating tooling from separate segments, each corresponding to a specific region of the panel's curved shape, allowing for individual production and easy modification, with segments being joined together using known techniques like location pins and bolts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If tooling is produced as a single integrated unit, then manufacturing precision and structural integrity are improved, but production time and adaptability to design changes deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The tooling is divided into multiple separate segments that can be produced independently and then joined together. Each segment corresponds to a specific region of the panel's curved shape, allowing parallel production and reducing overall lead time while maintaining the necessary structural integrity through proper joining techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
Flat segments are produced in advance before the final curved panel design is complete. These flat segments can be manufactured using standard processes while the overall panel design is being finalized, allowing for earlier start of tooling production and subsequent modification to achieve the curved shape.
2Strength
If tooling is produced as a single integrated unit, then structural strength is improved, but adaptability to design changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tooling is segmented into separate sections that can be independently modified. If design changes are required, only the affected segments need to be altered rather than redesigning the entire tooling, significantly improving adaptability while maintaining overall structural strength through the joining of segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The tooling structure is made dynamically configurable through separable segments that can be reconfigured or modified based on design changes. This allows the tooling to adapt to different panel designs while maintaining the necessary structural integrity for each specific application.
3Shape
If complex curved shapes are produced directly, then panel shape accuracy is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Flat segments are manufactured using standard, simpler processes before being assembled and then curved to form the final panel shape. This preliminary production of flat segments reduces manufacturing complexity and cost compared to directly producing complex curved shapes, while still achieving the required final geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The final curved shape is achieved by assembling flat segments and then applying curvature to the assembled structure rather than manufacturing each segment with its final curved geometry. This approach simplifies the manufacturing of individual segments while achieving the required curved panel shape.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided of producing a tooling to be used for manufacturing a rigid panel formed of polymer matrix composite material. The panel is for attachment to a gas turbine engine and has a curved shape which allows the panel to be wrapped around at least a part of a circumference of the engine. The panel has plural electrical conductors and/or fluid passages embedded therein. The tooling is either a mould against which the polymer matrix composite material can be moulded to manufacture the panel, or a pattern from which such a mould can be formed. The method includes: providing a plurality of separate tooling segments, each of which corresponds to a respective region of the curved shape of the panel; and joining the tooling segments together to produce the tooling.