Leonardo Corporation

Alenia Aermacchi S.p.a.

Carmine Suriano

Gianni Iagulli

Alberto Russolillo

Pasquale Sabino

Felice Carifi

Daniela Carretti

Michele Frasca

Gianpiero Lembo

Method for manufacturing stiffened panels comprising the following steps: forming a first and a second wet skin, each comprising a plurality of plies of preimpregnated composite material; forming a plurality of pairs of wet stringers, comprising a plurality of plies of preimpregnated material, wherein forming each pair of wet stringers comprises a) forming an assembly having a central web extending between opposite end flanges, and b) cutting the assembly along a median plane so as to form a pair of wet stringers, placing the pairs of wet stringers on the first wet skin by means of removable supporting members; turning the second wet skin over and placing it on the pairs of stringers, so as to obtain a pair of wet panels arranged above each other; and subjecting the pair of wet panels to a same curing cycle.

Method for manufacturing stiffened panels of composite material by means of co-curing

A tool for forming a C-section beam made of carbon fiber includes a straight elongated mandrel with a rectangular or trapezoidal cross-section. The mandrel has three consecutive outer faces, with a planar face configured to form a surface of the web of the C-section beam, and two opposing lateral faces, configured to form two respective surfaces of the flanges of the C-section beam. The mandrel has a distributed perforation on at least one of the three outer faces and an inlet/outlet connection to connect the mandrel to an external source of vacuum and/or compressed air. Passages are formed inside the mandrel to establish a fluid communication between the distributed perforation and the inlet/outlet connection. Through the distributed perforation, a vacuum is applied to the interface between the mandrel and the C-section beam to retain the C-section beam on the mandrel while lifted and turned by 180&#xb0; for coupling to a similar C-section beam to assemble an H-beam. Applying compressed air through the perforation facilitates the removal of the C-section beam from the mandrel at the end of the compaction step.

Tool and a method for forming and assembling beams of composite material

Growing community of inventors

Foggia, Italy

Carmine Suriano