Scratch Build – In Progress Project HELIOS - Mod or Materials Sciences Class - You Decide - 4.27.11

i caught that
the is for fleabay
not him

 

I've been diligently plugging away.
I decided to trade in the project log for a big bang at the end.

Many issues arose when fabricating the 8mm thick panels - there was a great numbers of unsuccessful trials before arriving at the solution seen in the images below. A total of 64 layers were required to achieve the thickness and rigidity of my specifications.

As planned:
There are three small 1/8" pins sticking out 2.5mm from each mated edge. These more than hold it together, there are no visible fasteners. (I've not yet inserted the pins holding the side panels in place - this will be the last step.

All that remains now is to give the panels a final surface finish.
A final clean of the edges.
Dilling of a few remaining holes for mounting things like the motherboard.
Then a light hammering to seat all the pins into their final positions.

That's all I have to say for now, I'll let the images do the rest.

Presenting HELIOS:
Side-View w/ Side Panel


Side-View



Opened Top



Front


Reverse Side and back of Motherboard


Detail Shot




Tune in soon for final pics, the fabrication story, technical specifics, hardware selection and some pretty badass motion graphics.

*j

 

No. Effing. Way. I want that on my desk RIGHT NOW.

That said, I really wish we'd had a log. The teasing with PrometheusCU was almost erotic and this log certainly lacked that.

 

Thanks man, and...

You'll get a log, in a new sort-of-way.

 

*foaming at the mouth..........*
*uncontrollable breathing........*
*faint*

 

That is... luxuriant.

For a project named Helios it's a bit... black... looks like you've got a dark star there

 

You is a Freaka Baby! What's up for the new year now! YOU IS A FREAKA!

 

Looks like you got a lot of word done

What again are the sides made of? I'm thinking either acrylic, or a composite.

 

Damn I can't see pics.

 

@disturbed13 - haha, thanks man.

@asura - Fear not friend, it'll be worthy of it's name before all is done. Stay tuned.

@LooseNeutral - Superfreak.

@tkgclimb - I give you my thanks, and refer you to the thread sir.

@Razer2007 - Try here mate: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v60/Langer/Helios/Assembly/

 

Looks awesome Langer It really does scream stroke me, are we going to see any "OMG IT'S THIS STRONG" pictures? like a truck driving over it or something

 

Wow dude it's awesome. I agree with Editor22, let a truck drive over it.

 

I knew it was in there some where I just couldn't find it, sorry, looking great though

 

wow.. just wow... Looks awesome. I cant wait to see what this looks like complete.

*subbed*

 

@Editor22 - Thanks a lot man, and I think that's a great idea. I'll be sure to do some unnecessary stress testing.

@Razer2007 - Haha, maybe not a truck... but something cool like that for sure.

@tkgclimb - No worries man, thanks for posting.

@Teknokid - Thank you for the support... I'm pretty stoked to see it coming together myself.


Whats next? I hear you asking.

1) Resurfacing the panels - this will be done by squeezing each piece for a few seconds at ~200,000lbs in a press heated to ~400degress. The pieces will be pressed between a textured sheet of teflon, the texture will be transferred to the surface of the composite panels. The result will be a flat, even surface with a slight texture to it; just to add a bit of character.

2) Final assembly - this will be where the panels are fixed together using small press-fit steel pins. You wont be able to see these pins once assembly is complete and they will offer more than enough structural stability to hold the chassis together.

3) Aerogel (Frozen Smoke) pieces - I've decided to manufacture the remaining parts of this case from a material known as Aerogel. This material is just... remarkable... it looks just like frozen smoke, it weighs almost nothing, it's the least dense solid on the planet... and it can withstand ~4000 times its weight in compression. I'll leave you with a video discussing it's properties:


4) Install the hardware - I still haven't settled on the hardware for this build... but I think something over-the-top and epically powerful is in order. I'll start gathering the remaining pieces over the next month or so.

Thanks for the comments and support everyone.
I look forward to sharing my current progress with you soon.

*j

 

Langer, you are hereby officially certified insane! but of course we all love you for it Aerogel in a PC who'd have thought?!

 

That is some cool stuff! $35 is a little steep for a 26 DIA x 7mm thick disk? Are planning on making it yourself?

Great project BTW, Subbed

 

That Aerogel stuff is amazing!

 

@Editor22 - haha, thanks a lot man. It's good to be loved.

@Roboduck - Thank you for posting, and you're correct - I'll be making my own silica aerogel. I have a discussion thread if you'd like to chime in: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=201526

@MrNitro - Thanks for posting, and I couldn't agree more.



I've been asked some questions regarding the struggles in creating the panels used to construct Helios... so here is goes.

I will elaborate with a photo walkthrough when I can find the opportunity in the next few weeks.


Material Composition:
Base Materials:
- Carbon
- Nickel
- Lithium
- Teflon
- Aramid (Kevlar)
- Polypropylene
- Glass
Resin:
The resin used is the highest performance material currently available on earth:
"PEEK™ polymer is regarded as one of the highest performing materials in the world. Its product portfolio is the broadest range of polyaryletherketones on the market today and helps customers improve application performance, realize greater design freedom and achieve systems cost savings."
As a small qualifier to the performance of this material; combining PEEK with a something like Fiberglass will result in a material stronger than carbon fiber (albeit not as light).


The process of manufacturing is as such:
1 - Fibers are grouped 25,000 at a time, in this case, and wound onto rovings.

2 - The rovings, like big spools of thread, contain about 2.5KM of fiber and weigh only about 1KG (depending on the material).

3 - The rovings are fed into a machine, 64 at a time, and impregnated with plastic resin

4 - The result is called "tape" and it's 6inches wide, it's cross section would reveal 1.6million individual fibers held together with resin.

5 - The tape is then fed into a machine which melts as many as 7 spools together.

6 - The result is a continuous sheet 42" wide and composed of 11.2million individual fibers across.

7 - This 42" wide sheet is then sliced into 42"x42" squares called "unidirectional sheets".

8 - These "unidirectional sheets" are then stacked one atop another, following a strict pattern called a lay-up. For the panels used in Helios the lay-up called for 64 specific layers of materials in the form of unidirectional sheets and woven fabric.

9 - The sheets are then stacked 0degrees -> 90degrees -> 0degrees -> 90degrees -> etc. This is to alternate the direction of the fibers and ensure rigidity in both directions

10 - Every few layers the lay-up calls for a sheet of resin film to be added, this film will melt and help further adhere the layers.

11 - This stack of sheets, fabrics, and resins is now sandwiched between some sheets of teflon fabric and topped off with 1/8" aluminum panels. The aluminum keeps the panel surface straight and the teflon stops everything from sticking to the aluminum (sometimes textured teflon is used for effect).

12 - This 'sandwich', now over 6" tall, goes into a GIANT press heated upwards of 500degrees and capable of exerting several million pounds of force under tens of thousands of PSI.

12 - The Helios panels went into the press for 11mins 400,000lbs @ 420degrees, then another 6mins in a cooled press at 120,000lbs. These unimaginable forces turned the 6" tall lay-up unto an incredibly rigid panel 8mm thick.

13 - In the case of Helios, I've added another step: a second pressing using textured teflon to add a surface texture to the panels. This is because when the panels were made using smooth teflon and I want a more unique look than just plain "shiny".

In Short:
Fiber is wound, injected with plastic, grouped into tape, melted together into sheets, which are stacked together with resin film, which is pressed and cooled... this is how you get thermoplastic panels.

As you can imagine (even moreso once I get some photos up) there are about a million things which can go wrong during this process... and I think every possible problem showed it's face during this project.

I hope that illuminates things a bit.

 

Man I feel so 'nothing" to even post a comment here, it feels like I am among scientists and I have to say something and I have no clue of what is going on! Please start modding cause one more sentence of planning and my mind is going to explode!!! Aerogel, peek polymer.... kaboom!!! More awesomeness please!