Recently, IRAETAhas successfully shippeda batch of door ringswith a diameter of about 7 meters. This batch of forgings will be mainly used to manufacture several large-diameter autoclaves in the future.
The autoclave is mainly used for processing and manufacturing CFRP carbon fiber composite materials. And These materials are usually used in large quantities in the aerospace industry. At the same time, not only are the materials used in large quantities, but they are also high-quality carbon fibers, and the price is usually more than ten times that of consumer-grade carbon fibers.The usual carbon fiber parts are likely to be made in this way: stack the carbon fiber and resin glue layer by layer until it reaches the required shape and thickness.Of course, there are otherways : injection molding, compression molding and so on.
However, for equipment such as aircraft, due to the complex shapes of various internal components, the quality requirements are extremely high.To ensure the stability of product quality, it is necessary to use autoclave forming technology.
This technology is to put the pre-made carbon fiber blanks in a sealed bag, vacuum the bag, and then put it into the equipment. Then the carbon fiber composite material is finally shapedby controlling the temperature and air pressure.
At present, one of the "Big Brothers" in the autoclave is made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. in Japan, with a diameter of 9 meters, a length of 30 meters, and a weight of 920 tons.
The other is in the United States, manufactured by ASC, with a diameter of 9.1 meters and a length of 25.9 meters (ASC has also produced several autoclaves with a diameter of 8.5 meters and a length of 36.6 meters).
The maximum outer diameter of the door ringsordered by ST Company from Iraetais 7 meters, so we estimate that the inner diameter of the final equipment should be 6.5-7 meters, which is also among the best in the autoclave. These autoclaves will eventually be delivered to the new plant of Turkish Aviation Industry Corporation TAI, which is currently the only manufacturer of ailerons for the Airbus A350.
The cost of a large-size autoclave is tens of millions of dollars, and its structure is very complicated. It needs vacuum control, temperature control, heating control, cooling control, pressurization control, electromechanical control, safety control and other systems.
In order to realize quick opening and closing, the autoclaveusually use tooth-mesh type opening and closing, and the door ringis installed at the tank door. Through the meshing and staggering between the teeth, the purpose of fast opening and closing is achieved. Therefore, in addition to frequent opening and closing, the door ringalso has to withstand sudden rises and drops in temperature and air pressure. There should be no cracks or deformation during work, and there are high requirements for strength and fatigue loads.
The orange part and the tank door on the right can see obvious teeth
Door ring ordered by ST company
