Manufacture of Fiber Preforms for Liquid Composite Molding

9415051 Tucker本项目研究液体复合成型用预成型件的制造。它侧重于热成型方法，其中一个最初的平板形成三维形状。该项目的目标是了解预成型的机制，预测是否可以从任何给定的随机纤维垫形成任何特定的部分，量化预成型变形对模具填充的影响，并将这些结果纳入计算机辅助工程软件，这将对工业有用。该项目解决了复合材料制造中一个关键且昂贵的步骤。一种改进的成形理论将帮助设计师识别零件中难以成形的几何特征，并在模具制造之前纠正问题。设计师也将能够更好地识别那些绝对无法从现有材料中形成的特征，从而避免注定要失败的开发努力。* * *

9415051 Tucker This Project examines the manufacture of preforms for liquid composite molding. It focuses on thermoforming methods, where an initially flat sheet is formed into a three-dimensional shape. The goals of the project are to understand the mechanics of preforming, to predict whether or not any specific part can be formed from any given random-fiber mat, to quantify the effects of preform deformation on mold filling, and to incorporate these results into computer-aided engineering software that will be useful to industry. This project addresses a critical and expensive step in the manufacture of composite materials. An improved forming theory will aid designers in recognizing difficult-to-form geometric features in their parts and correct the problem before the tooling is built. Designers will also be better able to identify features that absolutely cannot be formed from available materials, and thereby avoid development efforts that are doomed to failure. ***