FUCHS – Flexible double diaphragm forming process with modular composite heating plate and self-cooling membrane

Adaptive, fast and robust heating and cooling make the double diaphragm forming process faster, more efficient and therefore attractive for small and medium size production.

Project Partners
Qpoint Composite GmbH

Duration
01.07.2019 – 31.01.2022

Funding authority
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Motivation
The double diaphragm forming process (DDV) is a method for producing preforms in small quantities. In contrast to press forming, which is used for large batches, DDV allows quick tool changes and a low one-time investment for forming tools. This enables the production of several small batches alternately on one line. Obstacles for a widespread use so far are the long heating and cooling times as well as the limited durability of the membranes.

Method
The aim of the FUCHS project is to accelerate the DDV, whereby the system can be flexibly adapted to different component shapes and sizes. This is achieved by three approaches. To heat the stack, a carbon fiber heating system is used, which can be adapted in heating area and intensity distribution. The cooling process is considerably accelerated by an actively cooled membrane. In addition, the dependence of the service life on membranes is investigated, which can reduce waste and costs for exchangeable membranes.

Acknowledgement
The research project "Flexibles Doppeldiaphragma-Umformverfahren mit modularer Composite-Heizplatte und selbstkühlender Membran" is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as a ZIM R&D project. We thank the BMWi and AiF Projekt GmbHfor their excellent support.

Contact Persons
Dr.-Ing. Swen Zaremba