Composite mold making questions |
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Composite mold making questions |
TonyAKAVW |
Jul 16 2007, 01:48 PM
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#1
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That's my ride. Group: Members Posts: 2,151 Joined: 17-January 03 From: Redondo Beach, CA Member No.: 166 Region Association: None |
I want to make a diffuser/engine pan for my car, and last night I started gluing foam sheets together to make a mold. My plan is to form the foam into the shape I want and then seal it with body filler, and then primer and polish. I have been reading up on making molds for composite work and most seem to talk about making a copmosite piece for the mold rather than what I am planning. If I make my mold as described will my composite part rip the mold apart when I seperate the two? (assuming I use a PVA mold release film).
Also, if I make the part with carbon fiber, how do I finish the edges of the piece when I'm done? I would like to vacuum bag this part because the part will be visible from the top and the bottom... Can I get away not bagging it and get a decent finish? (I'm not super concerned that it has a perfect surface really). -Tony Finished part will look something like this... With the long straight edge meeting up against the firewall and the two tunnels exiting right under the bumper. Attached image(s) |
TonyAKAVW |
Jul 16 2007, 08:45 PM
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#2
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That's my ride. Group: Members Posts: 2,151 Joined: 17-January 03 From: Redondo Beach, CA Member No.: 166 Region Association: None |
Paul: Nice pics! There's a web site (unfortunately I don't have the URL handy) called Mulsanne's Corner and has a lot of detailed pictures and aerodynamic discussion of LeMans prorotype cars. There seems to be considerable variation among the number of strakes, the width and number of tunnels etc. The one seemingly constant thing though is the angle of the tunnels and from other reading I have found, 10-12 degrees is the magic number. Beyond that, determinung how many strakes to have etc., is probably something learned from wind tunnel testing or CFD simulations, neither of which I have access to. Without a truly flat bottom and the approriate amount of air getting under the car, its hard to say how much downforce this will produce.
tds: If everyone wants one then I might be able to recoup the mold costs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) At this point if I go with 3 layers of carbon fiber, its going to be somewhere in the north of $350 (very rough estimate) range just for materials per copy. -Tony |
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