New concept for the bicycle frame construction: instead of printing tube junction fillet shapes and dissolving them out of the frame... why not mold a core of the transitional shape in carbon composite and leave it in the frame. The composite entombed core would form the basic shape, and then subsequent composite layups on the exterior would provide the structural strength of the shape.
So make this shape from carbon composite, it doesn't need to be structural or even pretty. It would simply serve as an entombed internal male core for the layups on top.
After failing horribly last time, I decide to try RTM again. Mold design below with red arrows showing resin infusion path and blue showing bladder inflation passage.
Here are the printed mold halves with the rear shutoff insert (blue part above).
Here is the latex condom wrapped around the male core with the shutoff part.
Inflating the bladder on the core.
Here is the bladder and shutoff installed into the mold.
This shows the resin infusion tube. I made a small undercut shape in the mold halves at the parting line and simply deformed the peice of polyethylene air tubing with a heat gun and a socket. The parts mate and lock when the mold is closed.
After failing horribly last time, I decide to try RTM again. Mold design below with red arrows showing resin infusion path and blue showing bladder inflation passage.
Here are the printed mold halves with the rear shutoff insert (blue part above).
Here is the latex condom wrapped around the male core with the shutoff part.
Inflating the bladder on the core.
Here is the bladder and shutoff installed into the mold.
This shows the resin infusion tube. I made a small undercut shape in the mold halves at the parting line and simply deformed the peice of polyethylene air tubing with a heat gun and a socket. The parts mate and lock when the mold is closed.
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