METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PART FROM A WOVEN MATERIAL TAKING THE OFF-CENTERING INTO ACCOUNT
20220134683 · 2022-05-05
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B29C70/222
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
Methods are provided for creating a component from a preform having a network of fibers having, after the shaping of the preform, an out-of-register angle. The methods include: defining an orthogonal local frame of reference, defining a natural local frame of reference, defining a linked frame of reference, expressing a tensor of the stiffnesses of the woven composite material in said natural local frame of reference, constructing a tensor of the deformations in the orthogonal local frame of reference, expressing, in the linked frame of reference, the tensor of the deformations, calculating a tensor of the stresses in the natural local frame of reference, expressing, in the orthogonal local frame of reference, the stresses tensor, expressing the stiffnesses tensor, constructing a tangent operator, establishing an optimized configuration for the network, and locally adapting the network before impregnating said network.
Claims
1. A method for producing a part made of a composite material from a woven preform intended to be shaped, the woven preform comprising woven warp fibers and weft fibers forming a network, said woven preform being intended to be impregnated with a polymer matrix so as to form a woven composite material, the network having, before the shaping of the preform, two preferred directions that are substantially perpendicular to each other, and having, after the shaping of the preform, at least one off-centering angle α, the woven composite material furthermore following, without any shaping of the preform, a known general behavior law (L), the method comprising: defining an orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1) with respect to the network before the shaping of the preform; defining a natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) with respect to the network after the shaping of the preform; defining a linked frame of reference (R.sup.2) with respect to the network; obtaining a tensor of a stiffnesses (C) of the woven composite material without shaping of the perform, expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1); constructing a deformation tensor of deformations (E) in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1); expressing, in the linked frame of reference (R.sup.2), the deformation tensor of deformations (E) previously constructed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1); calculating a stress tensor of stresses (π) in the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) from the behavior law (L) that is dependent on a tensor of stiffnesses expressed in the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) and the deformation tensor expressed in the linked frame of reference R.sup.2, by using, as the tensor of the stiffnesses expressed in the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2), the tensor of the stiffnesses (C) of the woven composite material without shaping of the preform, expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1), which is unchanged regardless of the off-centering angle; constructing a tangent operator, for a numerical solution using a finite-element method comprising components which are equal to those of the tensor of the stiffnesses previously expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1); establishing an optimized configuration for the network based upon at least the stress tensor expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1) before the shaping of the preform; locally adapting the fibers of the network during a weaving prior to impregnation of said network with the polymer matrix, so as to fix said fibers in the optimized configuration; placing the preform in a mold; impregnating the preform with the polymer matrix; and demolding the part.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) is attached to the preferred directions of the fibers of the off-centered network, the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) being non-orthogonal in the presence of the off-centering angle α, wherein the off-centering angle α is non-zero.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) is a covariant local frame of reference and wherein the linked frame of reference (R.sup.2) is the contravariant local frame of reference, dual of the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2).
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a passage from the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1) to the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2) is made by means of a passage matrix (J.sup.T) defined as:
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the behavior law L is a linear elastic behavior law and wherein the tangent operator is a tensor of the elastic stiffnesses.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the part is a vane.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the part is a casing.
8. A fold of a dry three-dimensional woven preform comprising the network of fibers, said network having locally at least one area in which it is not orthogonal, this at least one area having been defined by the method according to claim 1.
9. A turbomachine part made of woven composite material produced by shaping a woven preform, said woven composite material comprising the network of fibers impregnated with a polymer matrix, said network having, prior to shaping of the woven preform, at least one area in which it is not orthonormal, this at least one area having been defined by the method according to claim 1.
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: expressing, in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1), the tensor of the stresses (π) calculated beforehand using the behavior law (L); expressing the tensor of the stiffness C, already expressed in the natural local frame of reference (R.sub.2), in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1); and constructing a tangent operator for a numerical solution using the finite-element method comprising components determined from those of the tensor of the stiffness previously expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1).
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the components of the tangent operator are equal to those of the tensor of the stiffness previously expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference (R.sub.1).
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0037] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, for the understanding of which reference is made to the attached drawings in which:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0047] The method proposed in the present invention consists in, firstly, modelling the part 10 to be manufactured, for example a fan vane of a turbomachine. The modelling is carried out using, for example, a calculation software by the method of the computer-aided finite-elements and equipping said computer.
[0048] This part 10 is manufactured from the shaping of a woven preform 12. This woven preform 12 comprises woven fibres and is conventionally, as illustrated in
[0049] At the loom outlet, the preform 12 thus has a set of fibres woven along two preferred directions that are substantially perpendicular to each other, as visible in
[0050] The woven preform 12 is then shaped, (as seen in
[0051] Once shaped, the preform 12 is typically impregnated with a polymer matrix and then cured in an autoclave to form the woven composite material part 10. A composite material is defined as a woven preform 12 impregnated with a polymer matrix. This woven composite material 14 has known mechanical properties. These mechanical properties are expressed by a known general behavior law L. For example, it can be a linear elastic behavior law. It is important to note that the behavior law mentioned here characterizes the behavior of the woven composite material 14 (preform and matrix), not the preform itself. The mechanical behavior of a woven composite material 14 is influenced by the off-centering angles α. Similarly, the mechanical behavior of a woven composite material is different from that of a preform (dry fibrous reinforcement).
[0052] These off-centering angles α induce a variation in the mechanical properties of the woven composite material 14 as a function of the different areas Z.sub.1, Z.sub.2 of the part 10. These variations in mechanical properties induce weaknesses and require the design of parts 10 with some oversized parts so as to compensate for the mechanical weaknesses of the off-centered woven composite material 14. An “off-centered woven composite material 14” is referred as a woven composite material whose woven preform 12 have a fibres network 18 with a non-zero off-centering angle α. In other words, a woven composite material 14 with a woven preform 12 having an off-centered network 18 is referred to as a “off-centered woven composite material 14”.
[0053] As with any network, the orientations of the fibres 16a, 16b of the network 18 can be expressed by decomposition on the vectors of a base. In mathematics, a base of a vector space V is a free family of vectors of V which generates V. We can therefore express the directions of the fibres 16a, 16b of the initial (pre-shaping) network 18 in a base B.sub.1 of an orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1. This allows to define, among other things, a general behavior law L. This general behavior law L can be classically composed of tensors having numerical values of the coordinates in the considered base B.sub.1.
[0054] In order to remedy these problems of oversizing, the present invention involves modeling the behavior of the woven composite material 14 off-centered in a base B.sub.2 of a local frame of reference R.sub.2 called natural (or off-centered). This natural local frame of reference R.sub.2 is related to the directions of the fibres 16, 16b of the network 18 after off-centering. This modelling is done in the same way as the modelling of the behavior of the orthotropic woven composite material 14 (with zero off-centering angle α) in the base B.sub.1 of the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1. Indeed, we consider that the network 18 keeps its material symmetries in the natural local frame of reference R.sub.2: we consider that the off-centered network 18 behaves like an orthotropic material in the natural local frame of reference R.sub.2. This natural local frame of reference R.sub.2 thus allows the behavior of an off-centered composite material 14 to be modeled by a set of reliable, so-called definitive, behavior laws, regardless of the different local off-centering angles α. This modeling implies that: [0055] the components of the various tensors (projected in the natural frame of reference R.sub.2 and) involved in said general behavior law L are identical for the orthotropic and off-centered woven composite materials 14 (i.e. before and after shaping of the preform 12), [0056] only the bases B.sub.1, B.sub.2 of the frames of reference R.sub.1, R.sub.2 on which these tensors are projected are different, [0057] as with the fibres 16a, 16b of the original network 18, the off-centered base B.sub.2 is no longer orthogonal in the presence of off-centering.
[0058] The shaping of the woven preform 12 of the part 10 to be produced is modelled in such a way as to predict locally the deformations and the off-centering angles α of the network 18 of fibres 16a, 16b as a function of the shaping of the preform 12. In the context of the present invention, this modelling is geometric and is obtained by a numerical simulation of the shaping of the preform following an algorithm of the improved net. Then, the off-centering angles allow the modeling of the part 10 by the finite-element method.
[0059] In a first step, the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 is defined with respect to the network 18 before shaping the preform 12.
[0060] In a second step of the method, the natural local frame of reference R.sub.2 is defined. This definition of the frame of reference R.sub.2 allows to express a tensor of the stiffnesses C of the off-centered woven composite material 14. In the case of a non-off-centered woven composite material 14, this tensor of the stiffnesses C is conventionally defined in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1. The components of the tensor of the stiffnesses C are known in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1. Any tensor of the stiffnesses is obtained experimentally by experimental testing on a woven composite material (in the form of a specimen) and in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 (without off-centering). Each tensor of the stiffnesses is related to a defined material. In the case of an off-centered woven composite material, the components of the tensor C are assumed to be known and unchanged (or invariant) in the natural frame of reference R.sub.2 regardless of the value of the off-centering angle α. This point (expression of the tensor of the stiffnesses C of the woven composite material 14 in said natural local frame of reference R.sub.2) is the core and the novelty of the proposed technical solution.
[0061] During a third step, a tensor of the deformations E in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 is first defined or constructed. The tensor of the deformations is provided by a person skilled in the art and/or preferably by a software used to perform the modeling by the method of the finite-elements. The tensor of the deformations is known in the mathematical sense. In a second time, the tensor of the deformations E is expressed in a linked frame of reference R.sup.2. The linked frame of reference R.sup.2 is defined with respect to the fibre network. The expression or the calculation is performed by means of a J.sup.T passage matrix as shown in
[0062] During a fourth step, the tensor of the stresses π obtained above is expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 by means of a passage matrix J.sup.T.
[0063] During a fifth step, a tangent operator (necessary element) is constructed for a numerical solution by the method of the finite-elements comprising components which are equal to those of the tensor of the stiffnesses previously expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 In particular, and in other words, the components of the tensor of the stiffnesses C in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 are calculated numerically. In the case of a linear finite-element calculation, the tangent operator is equal to C expressed in R.sub.1. In the case of a nonlinear finite-element calculation, the expression of the tangent operator is more complex and depends on the nature of the nonlinearity.
[0064] In order to allow a simplified understanding of the first five steps of the method of the present invention, the case of the dimension 2 is developed in the following. However, the technical solution proposed by the present invention remains entirely applicable in dimension 3.
[0065] More precisely, we consider the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 represented on
[0066] We then consider the natural local frame of reference R.sub.2. The natural local frame of reference R.sub.2 is written mathematically R.sub.2=dM.sub.1−dM.sub.2. It is represented in
[0067] In mathematics, a collection of reference elements, one of which is designated as the origin, is called a “frame of reference”, these elements allowing any object in a given set to be designated in a simple manner. In geometry, a frame of reference is used to define the coordinates of each point. The frames of reference are used, for example, to represent data graphically.
[0068] The off-centering angle α is thus defined as the angle formed between dM.sub.2 and dX.sub.2 (see
[0069] With the definition of the off-centering angle α shown in
[0070] Recall that the result of the product of two tensors should not depend on the frames of reference in which they are expressed. This is the principle of objectivity of the physical laws. For this, it is therefore necessary that the two tensors E and C are expressed in dual bases.
[0071] More generally, in mathematics, the space of the linear forms on V is called the “dual space of a vector space V”. A particular type of linear application is called “linear forms”. A linear application (also called linear operator or linear transformation but many authors reserve the word “transformation” for those that are bijective) is an application between two vector spaces over a body K or two modules over a ring that respects the addition of the vectors and the scalar multiplication defined in these vector spaces or modules, or, in other words, that “preserves the linear combinations”.
[0072] In order to express two tensors E and C in dual bases (one with respect to the other) (in particular C is in a base and E is expressed in a base dual to that of C), the mathematical formalism followed in the proposed technical solution is that of the linear algebra. The linear algebra also allows to access to the notions of covariant base and contravariant base. These notions of covariant base and contravariant base are applied to the case of off-centered woven composite material 14 discussed in the present invention: thus, the natural local frame of reference R.sub.2 associated with the base B.sub.2 (represented by the vectors dM.sub.1 and dM.sub.2 in
[0073] In order to better explain the present invention, a concrete example of the first five steps of the method of the present invention, based on the notions defined above, is proposed in the following. The example is based on a particular general behavior law L: a linear elastic behavior law. In the absence of off-centering, recall that this law allows us to calculate the tensor of the stresses π by double contracted product of the tensor of the stiffnesses C and the tensor of the deformations E. We thus express π=C:E. The five steps detailed below are illustrated in
[v(p,q),v(r,s)]=J.sup.T[p,i].Math.J.sup.T[q,j].Math.J.sup.T[r,k].Math.J.sup.T[s,l].Math.
[v(i,j),v(k,l)],
with: p, q, r, s, i, j, k, l being integer indices each in [1,2,3], J.sup.T being the matrix of passage from R.sub.1 to R.sub.2 (defined above) and v being the function [1,2,3].sup.2.fwdarw.[1,2,3,4,5,6] allowing to make the link between the components of a 3×3×3×3 tensor and the components of the same tensor written in a 6×6 matrix form thanks to the exploitation of the two minor and major symmetries, properties which the tensor of the elastic stiffnesses possesses. In other words, the tensor of the stiffnesses C (which had already been expressed in the frame of reference R.sub.2), is expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1. This step is illustrated in
[0082] This allows to access to the tensor of the stresses π in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1 and thus predict the local stress state of the off-centered woven composite material 14, regardless of the value of the off-centering angle α. The impact of the off-centering angle α can then be anticipated and the fibres 16a, 16b of the network 18 of the preform 12 can be oriented prior to impregnation with the polymer matrix. The last five steps of the method of the present application are thus: [0083] establishing an optimized configuration of the network 18 of fibres 16a, 16b as a function at least of the stress tensor expressed in the orthogonal local frame of reference R.sub.1, before shaping of the preform 12; the orientation of the fibres is optimized everywhere in the digital profile to improve the mechanical response of the final part that will be obtained, [0084] locally adapting the fibres 16a, 16b of the network 18 before the impregnation of said network 18 of fibres 16a, 16b by the matrix, so as to fix the fibres 16a, 16b in the optimized configuration before the shaping of the preform 12; this adaptation takes place here during the weaving of the preform by taking into account the optimized configuration of the network upstream, [0085] shaping the preform 12 in a mold, after its placing in the mold; alternatively, the placing of the preform is done in the mold, after it has been shaped, [0086] impregnating the preform with a polymer matrix (e.g. resin), [0087] demolding the part 10 after curing the preform 12 impregnated with polymer matrix.
[0088] In this way, the mechanical properties of the part 10 can be predicted at each location and the weaving of the preform 12 can be adapted. This adaptation of the weaving can be done by a local rearrangement of the directions of the and/or a localized modification of the thickness of the fibres 16a, 16b and/or their spacing, for example. This adaptation is then fixed, before the impregnation of the preform by the polymer matrix. This allows the expected properties of the woven composite material 14 to be maintained despite the shaping, and allows the dimensional margins associated with the uncertainty of the mechanical properties of the woven composite material 14 after shaping the preform 12 to be avoided. In other words, the loom is reparametrized to produce a fibrous preform whose orientation of the weft and warp fibres allow to anticipate the behavior of the woven composite material with off-centering angles.
[0089] It can be seen in
[0090] The technical solution presented here has very practical advantages. It can be applied to any type of general behavior law L and its implementation is simple and fast. The use of the method is immediate and requires no identification, with the off-centering angle α being the only additional input data required. Moreover, this approach has no impact on the calculation time, the transformations on the tensors of the deformations and the stresses 3×3 being almost instantaneous.