Tanaka Hidetake

The demand for carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), classified as functional resins, has increased for micromachined products that are manufactured using lathes and used in the medical field. However, the problems with machining CFRP include the occurrence of burrs and deterioration of the finished dimensions owing to the significant tool wear caused by the carbon fiber. To turn CFRP and maintain high dimensional accuracy, the authors proposed a novel combination of conventional turning and electrical discharge-assisted turning (EDAT). In this study, the capability to control the machinability of EDAT under low-voltage conditions was experimentally investigated. The relationship between the discharge voltage, frequency, and depth of discharge influence of the carbon fibers was clarified.

Although, three-dimensional printing has several advantages, however there are currently many limitations. In particular, printed products using composite materials such as fiber-reinforced plastic have yet to achieve the same mechanical properties as those obtained from conventional manufacturing methods. In addition, fabricating thin plates or thin shell shapes with sufficient strength is challenging. Incremental forming enables high-mix, low-volume production of thin sheets. This method applies incremental deformation to thin sheets, the desired shape is obtained by accumulating the deformation, and no dies are required. Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials have high specific strength. Discontinuous-fiber CFRP is capable of large plastic deformation under appropriate conditions due to the discontinuity of the reinforcement, and its mechanical properties are nearly isotropic due to the random fiber arrangement. The authors focused on this property and studied the application of single-point incremental forming to discontinuous carbon-fiber-reinforced polyamides. In this study, the workpiece was formed by heating it locally to a deformable temperature by the frictional heat between the rotating tool and the workpiece. The forming experiment was also conducted in an oil bath to keep the entire material at a suitable forming temperature. The results showed that the spindle speed affected forming results even in an oil bath and that heating using an oil bath suppressed deviations from the sine law for thickness and wall angle due to elastic deformation.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is a composite material with high specific strength and is applied to transportation and aviation equipment. However, conventional processing methods require large-scale production apparatus or a high level of dexterity that only comes with extensive experience which makes it difficult to achieve high processing efficiency. The objective of this study is to develop a novel method for forming thermos-plastic CFRP (CFRTP) preforms implementing a 3D printer for press molding. Applying this method offers the advantage that continuous carbon fibers can be formed on a free-form surface. It also reduces the manufacturing time and operator skill required. The goal of this research is to establish a method for molding a free-form surface composed of continuous fibers by employing a 3D-printed preform designed to match the unfolded polygonised diagram of the free-form surface. Previous research introduced an unfolding approach for converting a three-dimensional shape to a plane surface based on a computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) system, enabling the generation of an unfolding diagram that maintains the continuity of fiber tow. Furthermore, the validity of unfolded diagram was confirmed by reproducing the objective three-dimensional shape from the unfolded diagram using thermos-setting CPRP (CFRTS) tow prepreg. In this study, the viability of the proposed molding process using CFRTP preform fabricated by a 3D printer was verified and an assessment of the formability of the molded parts was conducted.

The Swiss-type automatic lathe is designed for continuous mass production of the same product. In the research, the authors propose a combined turning process in which a joining process using the frictional welding method is introduced into the automatic lathe. If the joining process is performed with a Swiss-type automatic lathe, it is expected that the problem of a large amount of residual material due to the mechanical structure can be solved. Generally, the friction welding method is performed by a dedicated machine and is pressure controlled by a hydraulic power source, however in the case of an automatic lathe, friction welding is controlled by the feed length and feed rate. The low rigidity of automatic lathes is also concerned. In the study, the authors investigated the tensile strength and rotational bending fatigue strength of the A6061 bonding material to investigate and quantitatively evaluate the optimum friction welding conditions that can obtain good bonding results in the friction welding method using a multi-axis automatic lathe. Upset speed was the most influential factor for tensile strength and friction rotation speed was good at about 4000 rpm. This fact suggests that excessive heat input leads to a decrease in tensile strength. The tensile strength was equivalent to that of the annealed material. It also seems that the air-cooled annealing phenomenon occurs during the friction welding process. The results of rotational bending fatigue strength were similar to those of the annealed material. It is clarified that friction welding with an automatic lathe is feasible, however, the strength of the bonded material is reduced to the same level as that of the annealed material.

The Swiss-type automatic lathe is designed to produce small-diameter and long rods with high accuracy and efficiency. However, its unique mechanism causes the disadvantage of a large amount of waste material. This disadvantage can be solved by the use of the friction welding method. Friction welding uses frictional heat generated by mechanical rotational energy and applies to automatic lathes with two opposing spindles and high-precision positioning functions. Friction welding is performed with a friction welding machine. This machine has a rigid mechanism for hydraulic pressure and pressure control. Therefore, there are some differences between friction welding machines and lathe configurations. In the research, the authors optimized the welding conditions on a Swiss-type lathe using tensile strength evaluation of joined workpieces as an index.