Compression Molding Large Vehicle Parts
Compression molding with composite resins can yield very durable, strong, and well-engineered parts.
Placing reinforcements (usually fibered glass) and resin in a heated metal mold before compressing it under high temperatures will result in a finished piece with very unique properties. The parts made in these matched metal molds have very repeatable properties, high strength to weight ratios, and are corrosion and chemically resistant. The parts can be painted, and have many positive design attributes.
Ashley Industrial Molding is a company that manufactures such parts. These large parts are made with compression and RIM molding for customer such as John Deere and Case tractors. They have a good video demonstrating their equipment, processes, and finished parts.
Auto Racing Composites
Roush Racing takes us viewers on a tour through their composites shop in a short clip from Roush TV.
Using mostly carbon fiber and kevlar reinforcements, Roush Racing fabricates many different components for the racing industry using epoxy resin systems. Ranging from the front noses for the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow car to drag racecar bodies and small ductwork, Roush Racing’s composites shop does all sorts of fabrication.
The race shop includes two different fabrication processes. Wet layup vacuum bagging is used for some parts, while others are made using prepreg material that goes into an autoclave.
The video tour is well done, and includes everything from the Eastman material cutter to the fabrication process, bagging process, and trim. We also get to see some of the finished parts after they are demolded and trimmed.
These parts are very expensive to manufacture, due to the high cost of materials and labor. Tooling and equipment costs for this type of process are somewhat reasonable, with the exception of the autoclave and the automated cutting table. Composites fabrication of this caliber is labor intensive, but can produce very unique parts that are lightweight and strong.
Cirrus Composite Airframes
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:
Composites Application: Utility Trucks
A composites materials application I recently looked at was a man-lift bucket made from composites. These man-lift buckets are mounted on a lifting arm atop a work truck to lift workmen up to perform utilities repairs and service. This is an application that has been around for a long time, and is a great fit for composites materials.
Utility bucket lays sideways for travel
These buckets are designed to hold one or two people and allow them to perform jobs such as hanging electrical wires, television cable, and telephone lines. The workers also need to work on the utility poles and trim the trees and vegetation growing near the lines.
This is a great composites application for serveral reasons.
*The composites allow the manlift bucket to be non-conductive for safety reasons. Many other considerations are made to prevent electricution, and this adds to those safety considerations.
*The bucket is also lightweight due to composites, which allow for greater lifting capacity of the workers and their tools because weight is not used inthe lifting device itself.
*These trucks spend the majority of their lives outdoors, and the anti-corrosive nature of composites helps give these manlift buckets long lives.
Fiberglass composites are normally non-conductive, and this is a very important consideration for applications such as these involved with utilities. Composites are found in many applications where electrocution is possible.
Not all composites materials are non-conductive, however. The use of conductive fillers and reinforcements can allow for electricity to travel in these applications. Carbon fiber and carbon black are a couple of ingredients that can cause this. Testing finished composites for conductivitiy can be conducted to determine their insulative properties.
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