What is the FRP designer?
Today, I would like to think about the FRP designers.
What is your image about the FRP designers?
Using the software like CATIA or CAD to make the drawing might be imaged.
This would be surely correct but this image will explain only one of the aspect of the FRP designers.
The necessary FRP designers should be the persons who;
"Grasp the FRP industry's landscape from the high view point, not cling to the divisions of works".
Here I would show you one example as writing the drawing.
It would be better if you can use the software like CATIA but you could ask for another person who is very familiar with it. It should be reasonable.
But the FRP designers should consider and decide about the engineering requirement like configuration design, dimensional tolerance, damage tolerance and fiber alignment. This mission should be the highest priority to the FRP designers.
Also, the FRP designer should have the skill to consider the manufacturing process.
Cutting materials, layup, molding, trimming and inspections…..
The FRP designer should keep to consider the five important elements regarding manufacturing above.
The drawings should be designed considering the manufacturing elements.
CAE is also the same.
Meshing method is SOLID or SKIN, or modifying in the area?
The boundary conditions and FRP anisotropy shall be also checked.
The stress distribution accuracy is accurate enough to consider the actual FRP parts?
Is there the area where has the stress concentration?
The most important point should be;
"The model has enough accuracy to consider the actual parts condition or not."
The FRP designer shall check the analysis result but they could request another person to do it or use the out-sourcing.
How about the materials?
The designers should decide the material considering the material properties like below;
– Thermoplastic or thermosetting matrix resin system
– The physical properties like glass transition temperature and CTE
– Property change during molding like viscosity, curing degree, curing shrinkage
In addition, the FRP designers should design the material test plan matrix regarding the static and fatigue test, also think about the test mode like tensile, shear, bending including in-plain or interlaminar.
They should decide the life limit of the material by understanding the material test results.
The designers also need to pay attention to the quality.
Could they design the material specification to define the material requirement?
Do they grasp the important parameters and process control conditions to produce the FRP products with the stable quality?
Have they made the drawings, considering the quality's view points above?
Detail points regarding process design and quality control shall be done by the people in charge, but the FRP designers should understand the brief and real conditions from the high standpoint, including process ability parameters and so on.
At last, market view points are also important for the FRP designers.
The needs from end users have been thought about?
Are there market needs?
Are there the functional properties, which lead to the high profit, included in the products?
Is the cost setting proper to avoid cost reduction competitions?
The synergy of engineering and marketing is the one of the important keys to success the FRP industries.
Today, I mentioned about the "ideal" FRP designers.
The FRP designers don't have to do everything.
it is more important for them to grasp the brief condition and show the DIRECTIONS to go.
The actual work can be done the specialists in each area. But the FRP designer is the ONLY person who grasp the wide range of field regarding FRP products and decide the directions.
If the FRP design company focuses on very narrow range of the work like design or prototype manufacture, the work division is still treated as the priority. This kind of stereotype system would not be functionalized in the near future.
Training the main business skill is must of course, but the widening the range of work is pretty important at the same time to become the FRP designer.
Such kind of designers should be required all over the world for sure.
