• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.24-33
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• 2022

Fiber-reinforced plastics(FRPs) have excellent specific stiffness and strength, so they are usually used as automotive parts that require high rigidity and lightweight instead of metal. However, it is difficult to predict the mechanical properties of injection molded parts due to the fiber orientation and breakage of FRPs. In this paper, the fiber orientation characteristics and mechanical properties of injection molded specimens were evaluated in order to fabricate automotive transmission side covers with FRPs and design a rib structure for improvement of their rigidity. The test molds were designed and manufactured to confirm the fiber orientation characteristics of each position of the injection molded standard plate-shaped specimens, and the tensile properties of the specimens were evaluated according to the injection molding conditions and directions of specimens. A gusset-rib structure was designed to improve the additional structural rigidity of the target products, and a proper rib structure was selected through the flexural tests of the rib-structured specimens. Based on the evaluation of fiber orientation and mechanical characteristics, the optimization analyses of gate location were performed to minimize the warpage of target products. Also, the deformation analyses against the internal pressure of target product were performed to confirm the rigidity improvement by gusset-rib structure. As a result, it could be confirmed that the deformation was reduced by 27~37% compared to the previous model, when the gusset-rib structure was applied to the joining part of the target products.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.426-433
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• 2021

The carbon fiber reinforced plastic manufacturing process has a problem in that a dimensional error occurs due to thermal deformation such as residual stress, spring-in, and warpage. The main causes of thermal deformation are various, including the shape of the product, the chemical shrinkage, thermal expansion of the resin, and the mold effect according to the material and surface condition of the mold. In this study, a viscoelastic model was applied to the plate model to predict the thermal deformation. The effects of chemical shrinkage and thermal expansion of the resin, which are the main causes of thermal deformation, were analyzed, and the analysis technique of the 3-D viscoelastic model with and without mold was also studied. Then, the L-shaped mold effect was analyzed using the verified 3D viscoelastic model analysis technique. The results show that different residual deformation occurs depending on the surface condition even when the same mold is used.