STRUCTURAL MEMBER

Abstract

The invention relates to a structural member comprising: a core portion that defines at least one anchor point, the core having at least one surface, a fibre tow arranged in a closed loop on the surface of the core portion, the loop defining a boundary of a space which contains the at least one anchor point, and a protective shell formed from a woven fibre sheet material which covers the fibre tow, and in which the core, fibre tow and the protective shell are impregnated and bound together by a cured resin. The invention also relates to a method of constructing a structural member.

Claims

1. A structural member comprising: a core portion that defines at least one anchor point, the core having at least one surface, a fiber tow arranged in a closed loop on the surface of the core portion, the loop defining a boundary of a space which contains the at least one anchor point, and a protective shell formed from a woven fiber sheet material which covers the fiber tow, and in which the core, fiber tow and the protective shell are impregnated and bound together by a cured resin.

2. The structural member according to claim 1 for use in linking two components together in which the core portion has two opposing surfaces, each surface being covered by a protective shell formed from a woven fiber sheet material, each surface also being provided with a tow of continuous filaments arranged in a closed loop, the loop defining a boundary of a space which contains the at least one anchor point and each loop being sandwiched between the core portion and a respective one of the protective shells, and in which the shells and the core are impregnated and bound together by a cured resin.

3. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the structural member further includes, between the surface or each surface and the associated loop, an inner shell of woven material which optionally includes a groove on the side facing away from the core portion that receives the loop and provides a guide for the loop during assembly.

4. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the core portion has a thickness defined as the shortest distance between the two opposing surfaces at any position along an outer surface that is at least 10 times the thickness of the shell of the outer surface at that position.

5. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the core comprises a low fiber volume (low fiber to composite ratio) material of carbon, glass or aramid fibers.

6. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the core portion is provided with a groove on each outer surface that corresponds to the path followed by the loop.

7. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the loop or each of the loops follows a path that defines a loop of minimum length, or close to minimum length, defining a space that encloses the two or more anchor points.

8. The structural member according to claim 1 in which each of the loops comprises a linear part that extends between two anchor points, the linear part being connected to an adjacent linear part along the loop by a hook part that curves around the outside of an adjacent anchor point, the linear parts of each loop being oriented so that any force applied to the anchor points at each end of the linear part to pull them apart will act directly along the linear part of the loop part.

9. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the two loops are identical in shape and size, and are located relative to one another so that the spacing between any point on one loop and the corresponding point on the other loop is constant for all points along the loop.

10. The structural member according to claim 1 in which each of the loops comprises multiple turns of tow around the loop.

11. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the two outer shells cover the opposed surfaces and together also cover the sides of the core portion to form a continuous protective outer shell around the core portion.

12. The structural member according to claim 1 in which the structural member includes an infill piece located between an anchor point and the portion of the loop that passes around that anchor point.

13. The structural member according to claim 1 in which a hole is provided that passes through both outer shells and the core portion at one of the anchor points for receiving a fastening such as a stud or bolt.

14. The structural member according to claim 1 in which each of the shells comprises a high fiber fraction woven sheet material.

15. The structural member according to claim 1 which is configured as a wishbone strut having three anchor points, the loop connecting and passing around the three anchor points.

16. The structural member according to claim 1 which is configured as a dogbone structure having two anchor points.

17. The structural member according to claim 15 in which the structural member comprises a strut for a vehicle or a strut for a wing of an aircraft or comprises an integral part of a vehicle body or chassis.

18. A method of constructing the structural member according to claim 1 comprising the steps of: providing the core portion, applying the tow of continuous filaments in a loop onto one surface, placing an outer shell over the loop, impregnating at least the outer shell with an uncured resin; and curing the impregnated resin.

19. The method according to claim 18 comprising, prior to impregnating and curing the resin, applying a second loop onto the other outer surface and then providing a second outer shell over that loop.

20. The method according to claim 18 in which the step of impregnating with resin comprises impregnating both the core portion and the shell or each shell with resin.

Description

[0059] There will now be described, by way of example only, one embodiment of the present invention with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which:

[0060] FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an example of a complete structural member in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

[0061] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the major parts of the structure member of FIG. 1;

[0062] FIG. 3 is a cut away view of the structural member of FIG. 1;

[0063] FIG. 4 is a cross section through an example of an alternative structural member that includes infill portions at each anchor point; and

[0064] FIG. 5 shows the structural member of FIG. 4 in perspective.

[0065] FIG. 6 is a cut away view of a still further embodiment of a structural member with a loop of two on one side of a core portion only and one anchor point;

[0066] FIG. 7is a cut away view of another embodiment where a single loop of tow is located between two core portions.

[0067] The present invention relates to a structural member formed using a fibre-reinforced composite material. The fibre-reinforced composite material may be any fibre-reinforced material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with a fibre material. The fibre material may be, for example, carbon, glass, aramid or any other suitable reinforcing fibre known in the art. The polymer matrix may be any suitable material used to set the shape of the composite material, such as epoxy, vinylester or polyester thermosetting plastic. The fibre-reinforced composite structure may, for example, be a carbon-fibre or glass-fibre material suitable for use in the automotive, aerospace or construction industries.

[0068] An example of a structural member 1 that falls within the first aspect of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings. The member 1 comprises a wishbone which connects together two parts such as the body of a vehicle (not shown) and a wheel carrier (not shown). Three corners of the structural member each define an anchor point 6 which in this example is provided with a through hole that can receive a stud secured to the vehicle body or wheel carrier. In an alternative to a hole a stud could be welded or bonded to the face of the structural member 1 at each anchor point, or a mix of studs and holes could be provided. The skilled person will appreciate that the invention is not limited to three anchor points, and is not limited to the shape of the structural member shown in FIG. 1 when three anchor points are provided. Other shapes, for instance a V-shape with the anchor points at the two ends and corner of the V shape could be provided.

[0069] The structural member, as seen in FIG. 1, comprises three elongate straight portions that each extend between a unique pair of anchor points. A large opening is provided in the centre between these three straight portions to reduce the weight of the structural component, so that the three members in the example for a triangle. FIG. 2 shows, in exploded form, the key parts used in the assembly of the structural member 1, and FIG. 3 shows in a cutaway view how these parts connect together.

[0070] As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heart of the structural member 1 is a core portion 2 that defines the overall shape and thickness of the member. This accounts for the major part of the bulk of the member, and comprises in this example a low fibre volume material with a volume fraction of around 0.2. The core portion 2 has two major outer surfaces 2a and 2b that oppose one another, connected by an outer peripheral wall and an inner peripheral wall. In this example each of the two outer surfaces lie in a respective single plane, but the invention is not to be limited to such an arrangement.

[0071] Abutting each surface 2a, 2b is an inner shell 3 which has a perimeter that corresponds to the perimeter of the outer surface. The inner shell 3 has a loop shaped groove formed into its surface that faces away from the core portion 2 that receives a loop 4 of uni-directional fibre tow ribbon. The loop 4 passes around the outside of each anchor point. The groove of the inner shell 3 is transferred into a ridge on the underside of the inner shell that is located within a corresponding groove on the surface of the core portion 2. This helps ensure everything is aligned correctly during assembly.

[0072] Each inner shell 3 and loop 4 is then covered by a protective outer shell 5 formed from a woven fibre sheet material. As shown the outer shells 5 do not extend down the walls of the core portion, but it in envisaged within the scope of the invention that they may do that in order to completely enclose the core portion 2.

[0073] The core portion 2, inner shell 3 and outer shell 5, are impregnated with a resin which is cured to form the complete structural member.

[0074] It can be seen in FIG. 2 that the portions of the loop 4 between the anchor points 6 are straight, allowing the loop 4 to provide a high resistance to any forces that attempt to move the anchor points apart. Any compression is resisted by the resin and outer shells of woven fibre material.

[0075] A method of assembling the structural member which can be used is as follows.

[0076] In a first step the core portion 2 is formed by cutting from a bulk sheet of material, or laying up several layers of material to achieve the desired thickness. The inner shell 3 is then placed on one surface and a loop of fibre is laid into the groove on the inner shell. A robot could be used to perform this task. The outer shell 5 is then fitted, and the part formed member is turned over.

[0077] The step of adding the inner shell 3, loop 4 and outer shell 5 is then repeated on the second outer surface.

[0078] Once this is complete, the part formed member is placed in a vacuum bag and the air is removed. Resin is then injected into the member where it impregnates the shells and core portion.

[0079] Finally, heat and optionally pressure are applied to cure the resin according to the manufacturer's specification and the finished member is removed from the vacuum bag and allowed to cool. Any post machining may then be carried out, for instance to weld on anchors at the anchor points or to machine any holes that are needed in the member.

[0080] A number of modifications are possible. FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, shows a similar member which has upper and lower shells 200, 201 that wrap around the sides of the member to fully enclose the core portion 202. These two shells 200, 201 meet each other midway down the sidewalls of the member. The inner shells 203, 204 also cover the sides of the core portion in this embodiment. The member also includes inserts or infill pieces 205, which in this example lie between each anchor point 6 and the loop 4 to control the transfer of load from the anchor point into the loop. As shown the infill pieces 205 lie on the surface of the core portion but they could be embedded in the core portion or replace sections of the core portion. These infills could be metal elements.

[0081] Infill pieces could be placed in a range of different positions, perhaps in between pairs of anchor points to provide increased or decreased flexure of the structure member between those anchor points.

[0082] FIGS. 6 and 7 show two alternative arrangements. For clarity and expediency the same reference numerals used in FIG. 3 are used in these figures to indicate like components. As can be seen, the example of FIG. 6 has a loop on only one surface of a core portion. The example of FIG. 7 sandwiches the loop between two core portions, with a flexible sheets located on each side of the loop. In this case, the outer protective layers are spaced further from the loop but do still perform the same protective function for the loop and core.