SHAPE-DISTORTING TOOLING SYSTEM FOR CURING COMPOSITE PARTS

A tooling system may include a cure tool and a biasing element. The cure tool may have a cure tool coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and may be configured for curing a composite article formed of two or more components having dissimilar component CTEs. The biasing element may be fixedly attache...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors LOFTUS, JR. ROBERT T, LEE MITCHELL J, ROBINSON JASON M
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 04.06.2015
Subjects
AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
PERFORMING OPERATIONS
SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR
SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS
TRANSPORTING
WORKING OF PLASTICS
WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL
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Summary:A tooling system may include a cure tool and a biasing element. The cure tool may have a cure tool coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and may be configured for curing a composite article formed of two or more components having dissimilar component CTEs. The biasing element may be fixedly attached to the cure tool and has a biasing element CTE that may be different than the cure tool CTE. The biasing element may be configured such that a combination of the cure tool CTE and the biasing element CTE causes a heat-up displacement in the cure tool when heated and the composite article is cured in a distorted shape. When the cured composite article is cooled, the cured composite article may substantially assume an as-designed shape.
Bibliography:Application Number: US201514617908