METHOD FOR THE DESIGN AND EFFICIENT MANUFACTURE OF FIBER-COMPOSITE PARTS
First Claim
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1. A method for designing a fiber-composite part, the method comprising:
- defining a geometry of the part and forces to which the part will be subjected;
determining stress contours of the part based on the geometry and the forces;
generating an idealized fiber map from the stress contours, wherein a direction of fibers in the idealized fiber map aligns with the stress contours of the part;
defining a plurality of constraints applicable to fabrication of the part; and
generating a first process-compensated preform map by modifying the idealized fiber map by the constraints, wherein the first process-compensated preform map provides the size, shape, orientation, and number of preforms that are required for fabricating the part.
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Abstract
A method for designing fiber-composite parts in which part performance and manufacturing efficiency can be traded-off against one another to provide an “optimized” design for a desired use case. In some embodiments, the method involves generating an idealized fiber map, wherein the orientation of fibers throughout the prospective part align with the anticipated load conditions throughout the part, and then modifying the idealized fiber map by various fabrication constraints to generate a process-compensated preform map.
9 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for designing a fiber-composite part, the method comprising:
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defining a geometry of the part and forces to which the part will be subjected; determining stress contours of the part based on the geometry and the forces; generating an idealized fiber map from the stress contours, wherein a direction of fibers in the idealized fiber map aligns with the stress contours of the part; defining a plurality of constraints applicable to fabrication of the part; and generating a first process-compensated preform map by modifying the idealized fiber map by the constraints, wherein the first process-compensated preform map provides the size, shape, orientation, and number of preforms that are required for fabricating the part. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for designing a fiber-composite part, the method comprising:
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defining a geometry of the part and forces to which the part will be subjected; determining stress contours of the part based on the geometry and the forces; generating an idealized fiber map from the stress contours, wherein a direction of fibers in the idealized fiber map aligns with the stress contours of the part; and determining, from the idealized fiber map, a size, shape, orientation, and number of preforms that are required for fabricating the part, consistent with the defined geometry and forces. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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- 15. A method for designing a fiber-composite part, the method comprising generating a process-compensated preform map by applying, to idealized fiber paths within the fiber-composite part that are based on loading conditions, one or more fabrication constraints, wherein the first process-compensated preform map provides the size, shape, orientation, and number of preforms that are required for fabricating the fiber-composite part.
Specification