Shearing Arrangement for Curved Fiber Preforms

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for producing curved fiber composite preforms face challenges in achieving reproducible and defined fiber orientation, leading to inconsistent quality and high manual processing efforts, especially for complex shapes like Z- or C-profiles, due to varying fiber angles and friction issues during draping.

Innovation Solution

A device with a shearing arrangement of rotating roll bodies, where each roll body can have a different rotational speed and be pivotable or tiltable, allowing for precise control over fiber orientation and path correction using a detection system to ensure consistent shearing and curvature of semi-finished fiber products.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Shape

If semi-finished fiber products are draped manually or by forced deformation, then the component shape can be formed, but the fiber orientation becomes undefined and non-reproducible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecomponent shapeVSAvoidfiber orientation

Core Design Contradiction:

ShapeVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The fiber material is sheared before draping to predefine the fiber orientation. The shearing arrangement with adjustable roll bodies creates the desired fiber angle in advance, ensuring that when the material is subsequently draped, the fibers are already oriented correctly and reproducibly along the contour lines of the mold.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The shearing arrangement uses adjustable and tiltable roll bodies that can be dynamically positioned to match different mold geometries. This dynamic adjustability allows the same equipment to handle various component shapes while maintaining precise and reproducible fiber orientation control through the shearing process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Adaptability or versatility

If manual draping is used to form curved profiles, then flexibility in handling complex shapes is achieved, but processing time and labor effort increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehandling complex shapesVSAvoidprocessing time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The shearing arrangement automatically adjusts and positions itself through the detection system that monitors the fiber material position and contour line alignment. The system self-regulates the shearing process without manual intervention, maintaining adaptability to complex shapes while dramatically reducing processing time and labor effort.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Shape

If forced deformation is applied to drape fiber fabric, then the material can be formed to shape, but fiber damage occurs due to friction

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial formVSAvoidfiber damage

Core Design Contradiction:

ShapeVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of applying forced deformation during draping, the fiber orientation is preliminarily established through shearing before the material contacts the mold. This eliminates the need for high-friction forced deformation during forming, preventing fiber damage while still achieving the desired shape.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Ease of manufacture

If cut blanks are used for draping, then material preparation is simplified, but varying fiber angles result in the preform

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial preparationVSAvoidfiber angle consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The shearing arrangement applies localized shearing at specific positions along the fiber material width, creating different fiber angles in different regions as needed. The detection system identifies the position of contour lines, and the shearing is applied locally at each position to achieve the precise fiber orientation required for that specific location, ensuring consistency throughout the preform.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

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 the production of curved preforms with reproducible and defined fiber orientation, reducing manual effort and ensuring consistent quality by actively regulating the path of the semi-finished fiber products through the shearing arrangement, thus improving the stability and accuracy of the final component.

Implementation Method 1

If at least two roll bodies (2a, 2b) are now arranged and formed in such a way that they bear in a frictionally engaged manner against a semi-finished fiber product (8) introduced into the device (1)

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectFriction: Friction

Data Source

PatentUS10279534B2Production of curved preforms

Publication Date: 2019.05.07 DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FÜR LUFT UND RAUMFAHRT E V

AI summary

The invention relates to a device (1) for producing a curved preform (9) from flat semi-finished fiber material (8), comprising a shearing unit (2), which has at least two rotating rolling elements (3a, 4a), arranged spaced apart in a conveying direction (11), and a control unit (6) connected to the rolling elements, wherein at least one of the rolling elements is formed in a pivotal or tilting manner and a semi-finished fiber material sensing device (7) is provided, which is formed for sensing position information of the semi-finished fiber material conveyed through the shearing unit, wherein the control unit is further arranged for pivoting or tilting the at least one rolling element during the conveyance of the semi-finished fiber material, depending on the sensed position information from the semi-finished fiber material sensing device.