| Composites Design and Manufacture (BEng) - MATS 324 Mould tools |
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Novel conceptsTool materialsReference
- MITTM: multiple insert tooling (Magnum Venus Plastech)
- PCT: porous cavity tooling (BAE Systems/EPSRC FLAVIIR project)
- RTC: reconfigurable tooling concept (BAE Systems/EPSRC FLAVIIR project)
- VCT: variable cavity tooling (BAE Systems/EPSRC FLAVIIR project)
- G J Gibbons, J J Segui-Garza, R G Hansell , Low-cost resin infusion mould tooling for carbon fibre composites manufacture [FLAVIIR project], Journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 2010, 224(4), 511-518.
References:Decision matrix
- MS Anghelescu and AK Alam, Carbon foam tooling for aerospace composites manufacturing, SAMPE Journal, January/February 2008, 44(1), 6-13.
- DJ Merriman and R Lucas, Carbon foam tooling: self-heating concept, evaluation and demonstration, SAMPE Journal, Nov/Dec 2006, 42(6), 42-49.
- JJ Morena, Mold fabrications, in International Encyclopædia of Composites, VCH Publishers, New York, 1990, volume 3, pp 394-420. UOP Library
- JJ Morena, Advanced composite mold making, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, c1988. ISBN 0-442-26414-3. UOP Library
- John Murphy, Moulds and mould design, Chapter 3 in John Murphy, Reinforced Plastics Handbook, Elsevier Advanced Technology, Oxford, 1994. ISBN 1-85617-217-1 UOP Library
- Chris Ridgard, New moulding methods cut component costs", Advanced Composites Engineering, September 1986, 1(1), 16-17. Good diagram of key stages in making mould tools.
- Nicholas Tiffin, Choosing better tooling, Advanced Composites Engineering (supplement to Engineering), Autumn 1988, 3(3), 18-19.
Reference:
- Nicholas Tiffin, Choosing better tooling, Advanced Composites Engineering (supplement to Engineering), Autumn 1988, 3(3), 18-19.
Reference: MW Arney, S Grove, I Progoulakis, T Searle, D Short, J Spooner & J Summerscales, Integrally-heated tooling for the manufacture of fibre-reinforced composites, Composites Processing 2004, Composites Processing Association, BROMSGROVE, 23 April 2004. Restricted: Download 615KB .doc fileCooling
References:
RC Haines, Volume production with carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics, Plastics and Rubber Processing and Applications, 1985, 5(1), 79-84.
G Musch and W Bishop, Tooling with reinforced elastomeric materials, Composites Manufacturing, 1992, 3(2), 101-111. Notable for intensifiers and inflatable mandrels.
The surface finish on a component when taken from the mould will never be better than the surface of the mould tool from which it has been taken. Further, it is possible that resin shrinkage during the cure of thermosetting matrix composites will reveal the topology of the reinforcement fabric - this is known as "print-through". The automotive industry dedicates considerable effort to producing vehicles which have a high gloss, consistent colour finish with minimal defects where the surface reflects a grid under controlled lighting conditions without significant distortion. This is generally referred to as "Class A" finish, but there is no rigorous definition for this parameter and hence each potential customer may have different specifications. Wood has recently considered these requirements. Key parameters are bond-line read-through, distinctness of image (DOI), fibre print-through, orange peel, pinholes and texture. A variety of instruments are available to "measure" the finish including the Ashland Laser Surface Analyzer (ALSA, which superseded the Laser Optical Reflected Image Analyzer (LORIA)) and the BYG-Gardner Wavescan DOI, ISRA Vision CPV (Car Paint Vision), Micro-Epsilon reflectControl and Visuol Ondulo deflectometry technology. Further, the use of fractal dimension has been considered within the In-Mould Gel-Coating project at ACMC Plymouth.,
Reference: K Wood, Taking subjectivity out of Class A surface evaluation, Composites Technology, August 2008, 14(4), 67-70.
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