Concept

This concept resembled shipbuilding more than mold manufacturing. The basic premise is we set up ribs, and then put a sheet of aluminum on top, which acts as the mold surface. Below are some pictures to give you an idea.

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The sheet of aluminum on top will bend under its own weight and follow the contour of the ribs. After that, the top sheet is welded or adhered to the ribs. For this style of mold, the ribs geometry and curvature dictate the shape of the panel.

A limiting factor is that the panel can only have a bend in one axis. Panels with complex surfaces such as side panels, cannot be manufactured in this way as they would need to be stamped and cannot rely on gravity to form the sheet.

Brief task outline and goals

Base design

S-Tier requirements and constraints

• Accuracy!

  • Light blue = ribs, green = base

  • If any of these are off, the accuracy of the panel will be greatly comprimised

  • Z-axis also needs to be accurate, as it will also impact the top surface of the mold

• Stability

  • the ribs and the surface sheet metal don’t provide too much stability, thus the base needs to be sturdy to prevent distortion due to moving the surface sheet metal or sibs

A-Tier requirements and constraints

• In house machinability

• Avoiding welding

  • Loctite H8000 adhesive?

• Cost

• Weight, moving it around by hand with 2-4 ppl would be nice

Rib design

S-Tier requirements

• Correct geometry

  • given the assumption of a stable base, the geometry of the top sheet must be accurate to the panel that we want

• Strength

  • we will be laying carbon fiber on there and will naturally be applying weight to the mold. Being able to handle 100lbs + F.O.S would be benefitial

  • Attempting to fix this by thickening the ribs is not preffered. Solving by changing the geometry of slots etc. would be best

A-Tier requirements

• Rib height

  • By increasing rib height, we greatly sacrifice the stability of the mold. If this is necessary for the design, so be it. But keeping it low would be nice

• Flexibility

  • Allowing for different base concepts is nice. This will require communication between parties.

Archive of tasks and goals

• Material, solar array, and bonding solutions

  • Find material that is suitable both for ribs and top sheet

    • ribs must be held to a high degree of dimensional tolerance

    • 3/4” MDF had a history of cracking at ETS. We can either increase number of ribs, change the slot geometry on the ribs, or somehow decrease load on each rib

    • also, consider build surface. At ETS, they used a jig of sorts

  • Solar array

    • want to include solar cut-outs on our mold

    • probably brainstorm ideas and run them by Brian from E5

  • Bonding

    • bond ribs and top sheet

    • would be nice to avoid welding but need a solution that is still sturdy

• Validating that roof can be done in this manner

  • validating that the panel only contains one curve. Otherwise, geometry cannot be achieved.

• Creating a process to create mold CAD

  • precursor to the actual CAD

  • for now, focusing on creating ribs that accurately allow us to “form” the sheet metal such that the top surface of the sheet is identical to the desired surface

• SI/Speccing

  • work on finding aluminum supplier from interiors

  • also finding materials that are up to spec (strength, temperature, weight etc.), work with Aidan on this one

  • Contact: janinedennis@canadasteel.ca, Canada Steel