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Composite-Bodied Electric Car Company Finished

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:38:12 +0000

Aptera Motors, a California company that was working on a revolutionary electric car is officially out of business. As reported at The Blaze, some videos recently came out that show employees destroying the composite bodies.

The headline reads:

Employees of Failed Electric Car Manufacturer Caught Destroying Car Frames…With Forklifts

The story describes how the company had hoped to revolutionize transportation with an electric car that was extremely efficient with its’ energy usage. Part of this included the use of lightweight construction materials to decrease the mass of the vehicle while allowing for maximum aerodynamics.

Edmunds did a report on the Aptera that is copyrighted 2009

The videos showing the destruction of the car bodies was posted by Youtube user KarenRei.

The bodies look weak in the video, but I am sure that fully-assembled vehicles were designed to have the doors strengthen the passenger areas for crash protection.

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Preventing Rotten Balsa Wood Core

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:57:45 +0000

Balsa wood is a common construction material used in the manufacturing of fiberglass boats. Used as a core material, balsa wood is placed between two layers of fiberglass to add strength and rigidity to structures that require it, usually the deck, many times the hull, and sometimes the other areas that require strength.

Using this wood in a marine environment where the boats are constantly exposed to water is dangerous because of the ability for the balsa wood to rot. Once water enters the cored areas of boats using balsa wood, it is a complicated repair job. The balsa wood is between two layers of fiberglass, and to remove and replace it requires removing a layer of fiberglass. This usually involves grinding and sawing as seen here:

As you can see, there is a lot of dust created from removing the fiberglass to get to the rotten balsa. The balsa must then be replaced before the removed fiberglass layer is restored. Care must be taken to ensure that this is completed correctly in order to maintain structural integrity of the area that is being repaired.

To prevent balsa rot in the first place, care must be taken when doing activities that have the potential to expose it to water. Adding fittings and features to structures that contain balsa wood require careful craftsmanship to prevent water infiltration.

Installing fixtures and fittings through balsa wood is possible, but careful work upfront will be very valuable in the long run. There are several ways to do this, one of them is here:

This method of making holes through your balsa wood-cored structure will provide a wall of epoxy resin around the hole and keep the balsa wood back away from any water that may pass through the hole. Good marine-grade sealants applied to the hardware will add another layer of protection.

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Custom Fiberglass Speaker Boxes

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:23:13 +0000

Fiberglass materials allow for custom shapes and features. A very popular Do It Yourself project is custom speaker boxes for automobiles.

To accomplish this, it is important to begin with a solid foundation material. Very often this is wood, which allows for screwing and stapling. Next, the speaker mounts need to be properly attached. Orientation of the mounting surface is established for the speaker that will be used in the finished installation.

Fleece fabric material is one method that is used to span the surfaces and transition across the different areas. This material allows for smooth transition, holds staples, is easy to work with, and is inexpensive. Once it is in place it can be covered with resin and fiberglass to establish a solid surface. This can be sanded smooth and painted for full effect.

WestCoastCustomsTV demonstrates how the fleece is applied in the video below:

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Aqua Stik Epoxy Repair

AKeson — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:57:10 +0000

Browsing Youtube, I found an interesting video on a repair Epoxy material by the name of Aqua Stick. I am not sure how it is available, but I am sure that you can search it on the internet.

It looks to be very user friendly, and has some very interesting potential applications in the arena of adhesive application and repair for underwater environments. No metering/measurement of the two parts is required, as they only require a kneading action to mix the two doughy components to uniform color.

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Machining Composites

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:53:42 +0000

Much like other materials can be machined, so can composites. Everything from basic fiberglass fabrications to advanced composites materials can be machined to add details and features.

This can be accomplished using hand-held tools guided by fixtures and measurements. Hand tools such as air routers, drills, and saws. A disadvantage is that the operator can commit errors and must be protected from safety hazards. These hazards include airborne dust, bending strain, lifting strain, and physical cuts.

For high volume or high precision applications, there are CNC routers that can be employed. These are fast, efficient, and safe. They may be expensive though.

Several manufacturers make CNC routers, and Thermwood is one as shown below.

This video shows several different applications and parts that can be routed with this large machine.

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1992 GM Ultralite Concept Car

AKeson — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:14:18 +0000

I found a very interesting video demonstrating the 1992 GM Ultralite Concept Car. What a blast from the past!

This project, like all concept cars, was well before its time. They had some cutting-edge engineering that went into this vehicle to work towards several goals.

Reducing vehicle weight was important, so carbon fiber materials were utilized to decrease the weight of the body/chassis. Efficient drive-train options were also developed, including the use of two-cycle engines and battery power. Designing for great aerodynamics was also considered.

Many years have passed by, and some things were right on, some were not. Aerodynamics have been improved. Lighter weight materials have been used as composites have been working their way into vehicles, though it has been SMC/BMC reinforced with Fiberglass rather than Carbon Fiber.

Gull-wing doors have not been adopted for family cars, and I am not sure if I am disappointed or not.

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UK Promotes Composites Manufacturers

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:53:34 +0000

I ran across an interesting video demonstrating case studies of composite manufacturers in the United Kingdom. This video paints a very pretty picture of companies that use these materials to manufacture a wide range of items including: aerospace, bicycles, bridges, auto racing parts, etc.

This video has some great video footage of automated composite manufacturing using advanced composites materials. Automating these processes has long been a challenge and hurdle to using composite materials for commercial applications.

This video seems to be done by a UK government agency called the “Department of Business Innovation & Skills” promoting a national strategy for composites industry growth. It supposedly demonstrates companies working together to develop new composites technology.

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Cirrus Composite Airframes

AKeson — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:44:17 +0000

I found a very interesting Youtube peek inside of the Cirrus airplane assembly factory in Minnesota. While it would be cool to learn more about the actual composites fabrication of the individual parts, there is some great information about part bonding, inspection, and final assembly of the Cirrus aircraft. They use fiberglass and carbon fiber reinforcements to create a very strong and durable fuselage, and it is great to see in action.

Personal jets made of composite materials offer many advantages and unique properties. Design of complex shapes and anti corrosion of aluminum are two advantages. Disadvantages include repeatability and upgrading/modification.

Composites that are properly designed and fabricated can be used in many applications where safety is a big concern. Proper design and inspection during production can create an airplane that can be easily maintained and have a very long life.

Great factory tour courtesy of Aero-TV:

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Underwater Pipe Repair

AKeson — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:04:21 +0000

An epoxy and fiberglass wrap can repair steel pipes while submerged underwater. Repairing small holes in pipes by wrapping them is sure to be much less expensive and disruptive than replacing bad sections of pipe. Divers must have access to the whole circumference of the pipe and the pipe must be free of its contents to prevent contamination and allow for the wrap to seal the leak.

As always, surface preparation is very important, and is demonstrated in the video with the grinder. The epoxy must form a good bond with the substrate material, not the rust and scale that is on the outside of the pipe.

Jeff Longmoore of TFT demonstrates how this repair is performed in a Youtube video, but does so in a dry environment rather than the actual underwater one. Very interesting.

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Panel Stiffness

AKeson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:40:13 +0000

Composites structures have requirements for stiffness to provide support and stability. Tests can be completed to identify the stiffness of a given area on a composites structure, i.e. how much it will bend for a given force.

The required stiffness of a section of a composites part depends upon the overall design and service expectations. Several factors, including the life expectancy of the object, the load rating of the composites surface, the inter-laminar bond strength, will help determine the threshold requirements. Testing is very important to determine the life expectancy of the part and whether it meets the requirements of its’ job.

Panel stiffness can be modified to meet these requirements using two basic methods. One way to increase the stiffness of an unsupported composites panel is to reduce the size of the panel through additional support structures. The other way is to increase the panel thickness across the same area. Choosing which method to use depends upon the engineering of the part and determining which method is acceptable with the surrounding part layout. If there is room to add supports, this is likely a quick and easy option. If there is room to increase the thickness, adding new or additional coring materials may be a simple solution.

Building a strong and stiff composites structure can be accomplished with the extremes of building a robust “skeleton” with small open areas and a thin skin, or having a basic, limited “skeleton” with a heavy duty cored laminate that supports itself.

A combination of the two usually works out best.

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