CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/450689
FEBRUARY 2015 40 CompositesWorld INSIDE MANUFACTURING ABOUT THE AUTHOR CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an engineering/materials back- ground and has accrued more than 20 years in the composites industry. ginger@compositesworld.com Working with Composites One gives you access to a unique partnership that starts with our PEOPLE, from regional customer service reps and technical engineers, to local support teams at over 35 distribution centers throughout North America. As your partner, we'll help you find everything you need, make sure you receive it when you need it and do what it takes to help grow your business including offering you emerging market expertise and process application know-how. And we'll provide you with the unmatched service and support that you should expect from the nation's leading composites distributor. That's the power of Partnership. The Power of One – Composites One. 800.621.8003 | www.compositesone.com | www.b2bcomposites.com Visit the All-New compositesone.com. People | Product | Process | Performance "At Composites One, we make it our business to know your business." Gary Yoder, Driver, Goshen, IN While the CFRP beam was in progress, a parallel efort was mounted to design the system that would move the assembled beam and a small Mars Rover-type sensor caddy that would transport a camera and sensors along the beam, including the electronics and control software. A composite beam cradle and support frame was designed and fabricated using pultruded Extren Shapes from Strongwell Composites (Bristol, VA, US). Testing of these systems together with the beam was completed with one week to spare. "So the project took seven weeks total," says CRG CEO Patrick Hood, "but two of those were fnal testing and system shake- down. Te system was deployed at least six times, with less than 1 mm defection at the support side. We utilized actuated tilt devices within the support structure, which allowed us to be well within our 762-mm defection limit under load." Doudican points out that some of the observed defec- tion was caused not by changes in the composite beam, but rather by thermal expansion of the steel in the lateral motion system during daily temperature cycles. Te beam was assembled and deployed for training at WIPP in September and was used to survey the potentially contami- nated areas during the next few months. Planning pays of "We're very proud of what our team accomplished in such a short span of time," says Dietsch. "Tis was a highly orchestrated dance between structural, mechanical and electrical design, procure- ment, fabrication and validation accom- plished in a highly integrated process — all happening simultaneously." Its success, he says, was in large part due to the energy and efort spent in planning, but adds, "Te speed and ease of using NONA aforded us a great deal of that time." section was aligned perfectly," Doudican explains (Step 7, p. 37). "We could not aford a few inches of vertical defection in the fnal assembled beam due to loose assembly tolerances." After bonding, dry ftting and machining of holes in the custom jigs, the nine box- beam sections were mechanically fastened to form the 32m structure (Step 8, p. 37). By week six, the REACH system had been assembled and tested. "Tis dry run had to be completed before anything could be shipped," says Dietsch. Read this article online | short.compositesworld.com/CFRPboom