Shaped Composite Strip Mandrel Forming
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for forming composite materials, such as bearings, are inefficient and costly, particularly for complex shapes, leading to material wastage and high production costs.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a composite strip with a substantially rigid substrate and a polymer laminate, shaped using a mandrel to maintain the major surface in one plane, allowing for the formation of shaped composite pieces with minimal waste, including composite washers with specific diameter and forming threshold ratios, utilizing metals and fluoropolymers for self-lubricating properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If molding or casting processes are used for complex bearing structures, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity is reduced and material waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The composite material is pre-formed into a flat strip with the exact material composition and thickness required, and the bearing shape is pre-designed into the strip pattern. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex molding operations during production, allowing high-speed cutting and assembly while maintaining precise complex geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing is divided into multiple segments or sections that can be individually cut from the composite strip and then assembled. This segmentation allows each piece to be precisely cut using simple linear cutting operations rather than requiring complex three-dimensional molding, thereby improving productivity while maintaining manufacturing precision.
2Productivity
If stamping operations are used for simple bearing structures, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision is reduced and material waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The composite strip is pre-manufactured with the exact material layers, thickness, and overall dimensions required. This preliminary action allows stamping operations to simply trim and shape the already-prepared strip, achieving both high productivity through fast stamping and high precision because the base material is already accurately prepared.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite strip is manufactured with controlled material parameters including precise thickness, material composition, and layer structure. By controlling these parameters in the strip preparation stage, the subsequent stamping operation can achieve high precision complex shapes without requiring complex tooling, thereby maintaining both productivity and manufacturing precision.
3Shape
If traditional molding or casting processes are used, then complex shapes can be formed, but material waste increases and production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing design is segmented into multiple sections that can be arranged in a linear pattern on the composite strip. This segmentation allows the material to be efficiently utilized by cutting precise sections from the strip without the excessive material removal required by traditional molding or casting processes, thereby reducing material waste while maintaining complex geometry capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite strip is pre-manufactured with the exact material composition, thickness, and overall dimensions required for the bearing. This preliminary action eliminates the need for material removal during the forming process, allowing complex shapes to be created through precise cutting and assembly operations that minimize or eliminate material waste.
4Shape
If traditional molding or casting processes are used, then complex shapes can be formed, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing is segmented into sections that can be individually cut and assembled from the composite strip. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing process by replacing complex molding or casting operations with simple cutting and assembly steps, thereby reducing production cost while maintaining the capability to produce complex structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite strip is pre-manufactured with the exact material composition, thickness, and overall dimensions required. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for expensive complex molding or casting tooling and processes, allowing complex bearing structures to be produced through simpler, more cost-effective cutting and assembly operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A process of forming a shaped composite material is provided which includes the steps of providing a composite strip having a substantially rigid substrate with a major surface and a polymer overlying the major surface of the substantially rigid substrate. The process further includes shaping the composite strip with a mandrel to form a shaped composite piece having a shape substantially defined by the shape of the mandrel, wherein during the shaping step the major surface of the composite strip is substantially maintained in one plane.