Development and Characterization of Carbon-Fiber/Epoxy Woven Wave Spring Alexandra Slay, Materials Science & Engineering Dr. Rani Elhajjar, Civil Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering

Background/Objective Advantages: 1.The load in the axial direction is 100% transferable 2.A higher spring load can be achieved with a smaller axial height 3.Since the overall length and height of the wave spring are lower than traditional springs, the size of the assembly can be reduced up to 50% 4.Weight of the assembly can be reduced Objectives: 1.Create method for fabrication of carbon-fiber/epoxy woven wave springs 2.Test wave spring, analytically and mechanically to determine and verify properties 3.Compare properties to those of traditional metal (steel or beryllium copper) wave springs.

Silicone Mold Silicone was chosen for the mold material because: It can withstand up to 344°C, which is above the curing temperature of carbon-fiber/epoxy woven prepregs used The coefficient of thermal expansion is favorable because it allows the mold to create pressure on the material during curing The two part mixture makes it easy to cast complex shapes

3D Modeling Creo Parametric 2.0 was used to model the wave spring Parameters including height of the spring, thickness, wave height, number of turns, and number of waves were assigned Three sets of datum curves were created: 1.Corresponding to the flat top and bottom 2.Corresponding to the damped cosine wave 3.Corresponding to the sine wave with consistent amplitude