I need approximately 100 samples of sizes varying between 50x50 mm to 100x200 mm which will exist out of 4 layers of carbon prepreg. I am doubting between two options:
- make each sample separately by having prepreg cutter cut all the layers in right dimension and doing lay up.
- making bigger plates and then (manually) cutting these into the smaller needed samples
I am not sure which tecnique will give me the best quality and most trustworthy test results and at the same time efficient time use. (I do have help, don't have to do everything by myself)
What we did a while back is we received composite plates and had specimens cut out of them using water jet. The quality of the specimens were great. Also, following ASTM standards, we needed dog-bone shaped specimens. It was easier to feed the geometry to a machine that would cut the specimens precisely.
Dear Annelies Nijs, Intially which type of composite which you are preparing whether PMC, MMC, Hybrid, sandwich etc.
Each composite have a distinctive feature. If you fabricating Sandwich type of composite use hand lay-up technique. which will gives cost effective also stacking of each layer easy.
It is just very simple 4 layers of carbon prepreg which will then go into autoclave.
The waterjet is indeed a very good solution thank you, but unfortunately I don't have that at my disposal.
I think I will make all the samples separately, since then the dimensions will be controlled better than with sawing manually and will provide for better test result analysis.
CNC shapes from a single large piece would be usual but sometimes you just have to go with what is available. Others have had success with water jet cutting but the one shop we considered admitted to a 40% failure rate, when cutting half-inch E-glass sheet, so we stuck with conventional machining. Particularly for real world vs. academic purposes, the closer you can get to the finished article the better, (for example cut edges vs. as-molded). Whatever you do, the key is consistency.
I agree with the suggestion from Mr Mahdi. I've also tried to cut my composite samples using waterjet machine. The edge quality is good and the variation of the sample dimension is small. Meanwhile, I have tried table saw as well to cut my composite samples but the edge quality is not as good as the samples cut by waterjet.
Thank you Lin Feng, and what would you suggest if the choice is between table saw and just small samples (cut from prepreg in necessary dimensions) out of autoclave with some sanding for the edges?
For when you get done with your testing?
http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/automated-cutter-enhances-bicycle-production-
Sorry for the late reply. Since you don't have the waterjet cutter, so I would suggest you to use the table saw although the quality of edges is not so good. But you can still polish the edges with some sanding to make the edges free from any defects.
There are different types of manufacturing process for composite fabrication.This process selection depends on the type of reinforcement material.For preparing large number of composites samples,hand layup method is the best and economically efficient choice for fabrication.
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