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Gabacho
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Greetings, I am getting ready to place an order with you for the tools and supplies to build a mold of my upper aircraft engine cowling and would like some advice as to what CF cloth type, weight, number of ply's, filler, etc would likely give me give me a very light and strong part. This is a single wall cowling, there are no stiffening channels or reinforcements. The original is made from fiberglass and is approximate 3/16 of an inch thick. Ideally I would like to end up with something significantly lighter and as strong or stronger than the original part. Can you suggest an appropriate CF cloth, thickness, weight, number of ply's and possibly a filler to sandwich between the CF ? If more information is needed for you to make a recommendation, let me know what you require. Regards, Ed
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Steve Broad
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Group: Forum Members
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+xGreetings, I am getting ready to place an order with you for the tools and supplies to build a mold of my upper aircraft engine cowling and would like some advice as to what CF cloth type, weight, number of ply's, filler, etc would likely give me give me a very light and strong part. This is a single wall cowling, there are no stiffening channels or reinforcements. The original is made from fiberglass and is approximate 3/16 of an inch thick. Ideally I would like to end up with something significantly lighter and as strong or stronger than the original part. Can you suggest an appropriate CF cloth, thickness, weight, number of ply's and possibly a filler to sandwich between the CF ? If more information is needed for you to make a recommendation, let me know what you require. Regards, Ed
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Gabacho
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 5,
Visits: 12
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+x+xGreetings, I am getting ready to place an order with you for the tools and supplies to build a mold of my upper aircraft engine cowling and would like some advice as to what CF cloth type, weight, number of ply's, filler, etc would likely give me give me a very light and strong part. This is a single wall cowling, there are no stiffening channels or reinforcements. The original is made from fiberglass and is approximate 3/16 of an inch thick. Ideally I would like to end up with something significantly lighter and as strong or stronger than the original part. Can you suggest an appropriate CF cloth, thickness, weight, number of ply's and possibly a filler to sandwich between the CF ? If more information is needed for you to make a recommendation, let me know what you require. Regards, Ed Steve. Thank you, that Video was informative in deciding that stiffness and light weight are paramount in my application needs, so CF is my material of choice. But it comes in different thickness's, weaves, weights, etc. and it can be layered in variety of configurations and in combination with other materials. Can you direct me to information on the results of these various combinations ? What I am looking for is a layering recipe for CF (weave, weight, thickness, other materials such as Lantor Soric core, number of layers) that when combined will maximize light weight, stiffness, and reasonable strength in a panel 4.5mm thick? Thanks again, Ed
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Steve Broad
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
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+x+x+xGreetings, I am getting ready to place an order with you for the tools and supplies to build a mold of my upper aircraft engine cowling and would like some advice as to what CF cloth type, weight, number of ply's, filler, etc would likely give me give me a very light and strong part. This is a single wall cowling, there are no stiffening channels or reinforcements. The original is made from fiberglass and is approximate 3/16 of an inch thick. Ideally I would like to end up with something significantly lighter and as strong or stronger than the original part. Can you suggest an appropriate CF cloth, thickness, weight, number of ply's and possibly a filler to sandwich between the CF ? If more information is needed for you to make a recommendation, let me know what you require. Regards, Ed Steve. Thank you, that Video was informative in deciding that stiffness and light weight are paramount in my application needs, so CF is my material of choice. But it comes in different thickness's, weaves, weights, etc. and it can be layered in variety of configurations and in combination with other materials. Can you direct me to information on the results of these various combinations ? What I am looking for is a layering recipe for CF (weave, weight, thickness, other materials such as Lantor Soric core, number of layers) that when combined will maximize light weight, stiffness, and reasonable strength in a panel 4.5mm thick? Thanks again, Ed I'll leave that for Matt or Warren to answer :-)
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Hanaldo
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Group: Forum Members
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You can estimate thickness per layer based on the weight of the material. So say for a 200g woven fabric, you will get roughly 0.25mm thickness for each layer. For a 450g woven fabric, you'll add roughly 0.5mm thickness with each layer. 650g woven, little bit over 0.7mm with each layer. Etc. Etc.
So to replace a 4.5mm fibreglass panel with a cored carbon laminate, I would be going for a 0.75mm thick skin on either side of a 3mm core. so you could either do 3 layers of a 200g carbon on either side of your 3mm core, or you could do 1 layer of 200g and 1 layer of 450g on either side of your 3mm core. You could also make the panel slightly lighter and make it 4mm or even 3.5mm thick, and still have a stronger panel than the original fiberglass one.
For your core, personally I would go a lighter weight infusion core material like 3D PET core. Soric works well too, but is a bit heavier. If your cowling has quite complex curvature, the Soric might be easier to conform without bridging.
Fibre orientation you likely dont need to worry too much about, much of your stiffness is coming from the geometry of your cowling. So you can laminate your panel with the fibre orientation that feels natural and uses the least material, which is typically along the 0 and 90 axis.
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Hanaldo
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Group: Forum Members
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Sorry, I'm assuming you're infusing this panel? Wet-laid results will be slightly different, so let us know what production process you are planning to use.
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Gabacho
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 5,
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+xYou can estimate thickness per layer based on the weight of the material. So say for a 200g woven fabric, you will get roughly 0.25mm thickness for each layer. For a 450g woven fabric, you'll add roughly 0.5mm thickness with each layer. 650g woven, little bit over 0.7mm with each layer. Etc. Etc. So to replace a 4.5mm fibreglass panel with a cored carbon laminate, I would be going for a 0.75mm thick skin on either side of a 3mm core. so you could either do 3 layers of a 200g carbon on either side of your 3mm core, or you could do 1 layer of 200g and 1 layer of 450g on either side of your 3mm core. You could also make the panel slightly lighter and make it 4mm or even 3.5mm thick, and still have a stronger panel than the original fiberglass one. For your core, personally I would go a lighter weight infusion core material like 3D PET core. Soric works well too, but is a bit heavier. If your cowling has quite complex curvature, the Soric might be easier to conform without bridging. Fibre orientation you likely dont need to worry too much about, much of your stiffness is coming from the geometry of your cowling. So you can laminate your panel with the fibre orientation that feels natural and uses the least material, which is typically along the 0 and 90 axis. Thank you! That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Ed
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Gabacho
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 5,
Visits: 12
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+x+xYou can estimate thickness per layer based on the weight of the material. So say for a 200g woven fabric, you will get roughly 0.25mm thickness for each layer. For a 450g woven fabric, you'll add roughly 0.5mm thickness with each layer. 650g woven, little bit over 0.7mm with each layer. Etc. Etc. So to replace a 4.5mm fibreglass panel with a cored carbon laminate, I would be going for a 0.75mm thick skin on either side of a 3mm core. so you could either do 3 layers of a 200g carbon on either side of your 3mm core, or you could do 1 layer of 200g and 1 layer of 450g on either side of your 3mm core. You could also make the panel slightly lighter and make it 4mm or even 3.5mm thick, and still have a stronger panel than the original fiberglass one. For your core, personally I would go a lighter weight infusion core material like 3D PET core. Soric works well too, but is a bit heavier. If your cowling has quite complex curvature, the Soric might be easier to conform without bridging. Fibre orientation you likely dont need to worry too much about, much of your stiffness is coming from the geometry of your cowling. So you can laminate your panel with the fibre orientation that feels natural and uses the least material, which is typically along the 0 and 90 axis. Thank you! That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Ed Yes, Vacuum infusing.
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Hanaldo
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Group: Forum Members
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Perfect, then the info in my previous post is accurate.
Can is I ask, is the original cowling made from chopped strand fibreglass? Or woven fibreglass?
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Gabacho
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 5,
Visits: 12
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+xPerfect, then the info in my previous post is accurate. Can is I ask, is the original cowling made from chopped strand fibreglass? Or woven fibreglass? It appears woven, you can see a fabric pattern in a few places through the gel coat and a ruff inner cloth surface. I am going to have to improve the fit and finish of the original cowling with something like modeling clay to be able to use it to make a good mold. as the original cowling is poorly made, fitted and constructed.
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