Paper number 711

VARIABLE AXIAL COMPOSITES FOR COMPLEXLY LOADED HIGH-SPEED ROTORS

W. Hufenbach, G. Archodoulakis, R. Grothaus, L. Kroll, A. Langkamp

Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik (ILK), University of Technology Dresden,
01062 Dresden, Germany

Summary

Variable axial textile reinforced thermoplastics with their excellent lightweight characteristics, good resistance to chemicals and their wide scope of designability offer a new range of performance for advanced high-speed rotors with a load-adapted thermo-mechanical anisotropic property profile. For the design of variable axial composites for those applications, material adapted calculation methods and optimisation tasks with modified physically based failure criteria are developed. The manufacturing of specimens and lightweight rotors made of commingling hybrid yarn with maximum dimensions up to a length of 3.5 m and a diameter of 1.5 m can be realised using the HT-autoclave and HT-press at ILK. Carbon reinforced thermoplastic composites are fabricated and characterised in material adapted and special tests. Experimental investigations using the ILK-spin test unit confirm, that exclusive by applying material adjusted calculation methods the extreme lightweight potential of variable axial anisotropic composites can be exhausted optimally.

Keywords

lightweight rotors, variable axial reinforcement, thermoplastic composites, 3D-stress analysis, failure analysis, high-speed testing, HT-autoclave, commingling hybrid yarn.