Designing and Manufacturing of a Flexible Longitudinally Laminated Sandwich Panel Forming Tool

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to develop forming tools for wide (over 1.2 meter) sandwich panels. Longitudinal laminating technology was selected for tool manufacturing due to its flexibility and cost efficiency. Laminating technology enables easy modification of the tool dimensions afterwards. The function to optimize or vary the dimensions of the tool was set as a secondary objective for the study. Forming tools for sandwich panels are usually complicated structures and joining of the plates can be difficult in some cases. Typically sandwich forming tools are capable to produce only narrow panels (less than 1 meter) and optimization must be done during designing of the tool. In this study, a rapid designing and manufacturing of a flexible sandwich panel forming tool was investigated. Sandwich panels are usually applied in light structures or voice covers due to their very low weight, high stiffness, durability and production cost savings. Designing of the forming tool was made by using a 3D CAD program. Conventional steel plates were used for the forming tool and the assembly was done by fixing the plate parts longitudinally together (laminating). Most important criterion for the forming tool was its capability to produce high quality geometry for the core. Laser welding assembly showed that the quality of the core was good enough for welding the lap joints properly. Both of the objectives were fulfilled: 1) forming tools were suitable for forming of wide cores (1.2 meter) and 2) the structure of the laminated tool enables to change or add new plate parts to change the dimensions of the final product.