S. Rosenwasser et al., The design, fabrication and characterization of an advanced graphite composite structure for high speed rotating machines, IEEE MAGNET, 35(1), 1999, pp. 307-311
Mobile rotating machines lightweight, high strength and energy absorptive c
ontainment structures. This paper reports the results of a program to devel
op the manufacturing processes and demonstrate the feasibility of fabricati
ng a representative complex shape carbon fiber-epoxy composite endplate. Th
e part geometry and composite architecture were designed to meet or exceed
the structural performance of a current titanium alloy endplate design. An
integrally heated 16-piece aluminum mold was designed and fabricated. The m
old cavity was filled with carbon fiber preforms designed to produce the fi
ber orientation and volume fraction necessary to meet the directional struc
tural property requirements. A near net-shape carbon fiber-epoxy part was s
uccessfully produced utilizing the resin transfer molding (RTM) process, Th
e mechanical properties and quality of the resulting part were characterize
d and are reported. The composite endplate would result in significant weig
ht savings over the Titanium part it replaced.