Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to the art of robotic weaving of structures having varying contours.
Woven structures are known. Woven structures are made of multiple picks along the formation direction. In some traditional weaving techniques, the term “pick” describes one fill fiber that has been deposited and encapsulated by the entire array of warp fibers one row at a time. The term “pick” may apply to encapsulation of the fill fiber by one adjacent pair of warp fibers at a time.
Many components, such as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) or organic matrix composite (OMC) components used in a jet engine, use woven structures as preforms. The woven structure strengthens the component. During manufacturing of such components, the woven structure is placed in a mold as a precursor. A material is then injected into the remaining areas of the mold. The injected material or resin surrounds the woven structure within the mold. If the mold has varying contours, manipulating woven assemblies, which are relatively planar, into a shape suitable for placing into the mold is difficult. Methods for forming three dimensional woven structures are desired.
Disclosed is a weaving method including placing a first section of a fill fiber between warp fibers, forming a pick, moving a base to reposition the warp fibers, and placing a second section of the fill fiber between the warp fibers to form a woven structure, wherein at least a portion of the warp fibers are introduced to the woven structure using a weave control grid.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the method may secure at least a portion of the warp fibers to the base.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid is affixed to the base.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid is slidably located below the fill fiber.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid has a central opening.
Also disclosed is a weaving method including forming a first pick, repositioning warp fibers by moving warp fiber arms relative to a fill fiber wand, repositioning warp fibers by moving a base relative to the fill fiber wand, or both and forming a second pick after repositioning warp fibers to produce a woven structure. At least a portion of the warp fibers extend from one of the warp fiber arms to the base and at least a portion of the warp fibers are introduced to the woven structure using a weave control grid.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the method further includes repositioning the weave control grid relative to the fill fiber wand.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, warp fibers are positioned by the weave control grid prior to forming the first pick or second pick.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid is attached to the base.
Also disclosed is a weaving assembly comprising a base, a base positional controller, a weave control grid, warp fiber arms, a warp fiber arm positional controller and a fill fiber wand.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weaving assembly further includes a holding station. The holding station may be a secondary weave control grid.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid has an open central section.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid is slidably located below the fill fiber wand.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid location is controlled by a positional controller.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid is modular.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weave control grid has openings with variable spacing between openings.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative to any of the foregoing embodiments, the weaving assembly further includes additional weave control grids.
The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:
A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed assembly and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.
Referring to
When weaving the woven structure 14, the wand 18 positions a fill fiber 30 between warp fibers 42. Controlled spacing of the warp fibers is important to consistent production of the woven structure. The fill fiber 30 extends from a spool 34 through a bore 38 in the wand 18. The wand 18, in this example, is a hollow tube. A fill fiber feed device may be included to meter the feed rate of the fill fiber with respect to the instantaneous relative velocity of the wand tip to the textile being created. The warp fibers 42 are manipulated by warp fiber arms 26.
The assembly 10 includes a positional controller 46 associated with the wand 18, a positional controller 50 associated with the warp fiber arms 26, and a positional controller 54 associated with the base 22. The positional controller 46 is able to move the wand 18 relative to the warp fiber arms 26 and the base 22. The positional controller 50 is able to move the warp fiber arms 26 relative to the wand 18 and the base 22. The positional controller 54 is able to move the base 22 relative to the wand 18 and the warp fiber arms 26. The positional controllers 46, 50, and 54 can be operated independently from each other or together.
The warp fiber arms 26 may be on the positional controller 50, attached to the fill fiber wand controller 46, or attached to the base positional controller 54.
In this example, at least the positional controller 54 is a six-axis controller, and may be a six-axis robotic controller. That is, the positional controller 54 is able to move the base 22 relative to the warp fiber arms 26 in three dimensions and rotate around three axes. The positional controllers 46 and 50 may have similar characteristics.
Referring to
The weave control grid 100 can be affixed to the base 22 as shown in
When the weave control grid is slidably located below the addition point of the fill fiber wand the weave control grid has an open central section to accommodate the evolving woven structure. It is further contemplated that the weave control grid may be modular to permit changes to the size and shape of the central opening to accommodate changes in the size and shape of the evolving woven structure. When the weave control grid is slidably located the weave control grid may associated with a positional controller which is able to move the weave control grid relative to the fill fiber wand.
Referring to
The example fill fibers 30 and warp fibers 42 may be composed of materials including glass, graphite, polyethylene, aramid, ceramic, boron and combinations thereof. One of the fill fibers 30 or warp fibers 42 may include hundreds or thousands of individual filaments. The individual filaments may have diameters that range from 5 to 25 microns, although boron filaments may be up to 142 microns in diameter.
In this example, each of the warp fiber arms 26 holds one of the warp fibers 42. In other examples, the warp fiber arms 26 may hold several of the warp fibers 42. After crossing the warp fibers 42 over the fill fiber 30, the warp fiber arms 26 hand-off the warp fiber 42 to another of the warp fiber arms 26. The “hand-off” feature allows an open shed so that the warp fiber arms 26 do not interfere with the wand 18. After the hand-off, the warp fiber arms 26 are then crossed over another section of the fill fiber 30 to form another pick 58.
The warp fiber arms 26 engage portions of the warp fibers 42. These portions may include end fittings. The warp fiber arms 26 grab the end fittings holding the warp fibers 42. The end fittings may be placed on a holding station to help maintain the position of the warp fibers 42 during weaving. In some embodiments the holding station has the form of a secondary weave control grid.
A person having skill in this art and the benefit of this disclosure would understand how to create picks by crossing warp fibers over a fill fiber, and how to hand-off a warp fiber from one warp fiber arm to another warp fiber arm.
When weaving, the wand 18 moves the fill fiber 30 past the warp fibers 42. The wand 18 moves the fill fiber 30 back and forth to create built-up layers of picks 58. The wand 18 is long enough to reach down through the longest warp fibers 42 during the weaving (
The base 22 is moved as dictated by the design of the woven structure 14 to create a bend 66 in the woven structure 14. The base 22 is thus capable of movement relative to the warp fiber arms 26.
The base 22 moves so that the pick formation point is at a position relative to the wand 18, and the fill fiber 30, appropriate for forming the bend 66. Although only one substantial bend 66 is shown, the base 22 may manipulate the pick formation points to form a woven structure having various contours.
The base 22 may move the warp fibers 42 over a piece of tooling shaped to the final desired contour [e.g., a mandrel] that is attached to the base 22 to facilitate forming the bend 66. The mandrel may move separately from the base 22. In another example, the base 22 moves the warp fibers 42 without a mandrel to free-form the bend 66.
The warp fibers 42 may be rigid enough to cantilever out from the base 22 (or shed) during the weaving. A binding agent such as polyvinyl alcohol is used, in some examples, to provide a degree of rigidity to the warp fibers 42. The warp fibers 42 may have a fixed length. The fill fiber 30, by contrast, can have length in excess of that needed to produce one component.
Alternatively, the warp fibers 42 may be soft and not rigid enough to cantilever out from the base. In other examples, metallic or plastic fittings may be added to the free ends of flexible warp fibers 42. The fittings may be placed in holding stations, and the warp arms move the fittings from notch to notch as appropriate as the component is build up.
The fittings may take the form of a bead with a through-hole. Prior to weaving, the ends of the warp fibers 42 are inserted through the holes and bonded with an adhesive. The holding station may be a fixture that has notches to hold the non-rigid warp fibers by draping the fitting over the notch and having gravity provide tension. The fittings may also take the form of mechanisms that provide tension by the action of a spring, similar to carriers that hold spools of fiber on a braiding machine. The holding station may be attached to the base or may be independent of the motion of the base. The holding station may have a grid type spacing and function as a secondary weave control grid.
The path and manipulations of the base 22 with the positional controller 54, the number of warp fibers 42 engaged by the warp fiber arms 26 when forming each pick, and the sequence of warp fiber arm movements may be designed and pre-planned in a software model to produce the woven structure 14 having the desired contours. A stable shape is obtained by the interplay of fiber forces and friction within the textile unit cells throughout the component.
The software model may utilize as inputs: a CAD definition of the surfaces of a desired component incorporating the woven structure; a definition of the initial warp fibers' lengths, locations, and orientations; and a definition of a textile repeating unit cell (or pick). The software calculates motions of the wand 18, base 22, warp fiber arms 26 and optionally the weave control grid necessary to achieve desired contours in the woven structure 14, without colliding into each other. The software model is then used as input for the positional controllers 46, 50, 54, and optional weave control grid positional controller and control of the fill fiber wand.
Separation S1 and separation S2 between warp fibers can be adjusted to adjust the shape of the woven structure 14. The separations S1 and S2 may remain relatively consistent when forming the area shown in
Referring to
Features of the disclosed method and assembly include a relatively precise and repeatable mechanized process that is conducive to high volume production of complex shape engine components with precise and repeatable introduction of warp fibers as the woven structure evolves.
The term “about” is intended to include the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity based upon the equipment available at the time of filing the application. For example, “about” can include a range of ±8% or 5%, or 2% of a given value.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this present disclosure, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims.
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