Shaped Polymer Form for Composite Part Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing manufacturing processes for complex composite parts, such as wings with twist, taper, and camber, are costly and inefficient due to the difficulty in removing molds without damaging either the part or the mold, often requiring expensive machining and assembly.
Innovation Solution
A low-cost method using a shaped polymer form that transitions between glassy and elastomeric states, allowing the form to deform and be removed from the composite part without the need for shape memory polymers or inflation, and can be reused or discarded, enabling the production of one-piece composite parts with complex geometries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a rigid form is used to manufacture complex composite parts with twist, taper, and camber, then the manufacturing precision and structural integrity are improved, but the form cannot be removed from the finished part without damage
Solution Approach 1:
The form is divided into two separate pieces: a rigid insert that provides the complex geometry and a flexible polymer shell that can be removed. The rigid insert remains in the finished part while the polymer shell is extracted, allowing complex shapes to be manufactured without compromising form removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible polymer shell acts as an intermediary between the rigid insert and the composite material. It provides the necessary complex geometry during manufacturing while being removable afterward, solving the contradiction between maintaining geometric accuracy and enabling form extraction.
2Ease of operation
If a shape memory polymer is used that inflates to replicate the mold, then the form can be removed by deflating, but the process requires expensive SMP materials and reinflation equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible polymer shell is designed as a disposable or reusable form that can be removed by simple mechanical extraction after the composite cures. This eliminates the need for expensive shape memory polymers and complex inflation/deflation systems, reducing equipment costs while maintaining ease of form removal.
3Manufacturing precision
If expensive machining processes are used to create forms with twist, taper, and camber, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the manufacturing cost and material waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state parameter of the polymer from rigid to flexible by controlling temperature or other transition parameters. This allows the same material to provide both the precision of a rigid form during manufacturing and the removability of a flexible form afterward, eliminating expensive machining operations.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the polymer form remains rigid during composite layup, then the structural integrity and dimensional stability are improved, but the form cannot be deformed to be drawn out
Solution Approach 1:
The polymer form transitions from a static rigid state during composite layup to a dynamic flexible state during removal. This dynamic property change allows the form to maintain dimensional stability when needed and become deformable for extraction, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and flexibility requirements.
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 reduces manufacturing costs and capital investment by allowing the production of one-piece composite parts with twist, taper, and camber without the need for expensive machining, while maintaining structural integrity and enabling the reuse or disposal of the polymer form.
Implementation Method 1
The polymer in its glassy state is heated to transition the polymer from its glassy state to its elastomeric state
Data Source
AI summary
A polymer is formed into the shape of a one-piece composite part and then solidified by curing, setting, hardening or otherwise solidifying the polymer to form a shaped polymer form having a shape that does not draw. Composite material is laid up on the form and solidified to from the composite part. The rigidity required of the form to lay up the composite part can he provided by operating in the polymer form's glassy state, forming the shaped polymer form with a hollow core and placing a rigid insert designed to draw inside the hollow core with the polymer form in its elastomeric state or through a combination of both. In its elastomeric state the form becomes pliable (without relaxing to a different memorized shape) and can he drawn out of the one-piece composite part. Because the shape of the form does not draw, the form deforms as it is drawn. If used, the rigid insert is drawn out prior to removing the shaped polymer form. Upon removal, the polymer form in its elastomeric state returns to its original shape. The form may be used once and thrown away or reused to form multiple composite parts of the same shape.