The Boeing Company

Dylan Edward Polus

Michael Palmore Matlack

Jeffrey Edward Polus

A method of heating a tool assembly includes the step of joining a first piece of the tool assembly with a second piece of the tool assembly via a first joint portion and a second joint portion. The method further includes the step of inserting a fastener through the first joint portion and the second joint portion of the tool assembly. The method further includes the step of applying heat to the tool assembly, wherein upon heating, interlock surfaces of the first joint portion and the second joint portion tighten against each other.

Tool assembly for composite part fabrication

A tool assembly includes a first piece, a second piece, and a fastener. The first piece has a first joint portion including a top surface and at least a first interlock surface. The second piece has a second joint portion configured to interlock with the first joint portion. The second joint portion includes a top surface and at least a second interlock surface that is complementary to the first interlock surface. The fastener extends through the first and second joint portions. The first interlock surface and the top surface of the first joint portion form an obtuse angle corner and the second interlock surface and the top surface of the second joint portion form an acute angle corner. The first interlock surface is configured to contact the second interlock surface to inhibit relative movement between the first piece and the second piece along a longitudinal axis of the tool assembly.

A core-stiffened composite product has an interior core and layers of composite laminates sandwiched together about the core. The core-stiffened composite product includes at least one layer of adhesive film containing a visual target spatially scanned by an automated tracking system to produce a dimensionally corrected reference volume to collate successive layers of film as applied to the interior core. The visual target is positioned to assure an as-designed alignment of each applied layer of laminate onto the core to minimize cumulative tolerance build-ups during a laminate layering process. At least one layer of adhesive film remains within the completed composite product.

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Glen Carbon, IL, United States of America

Dylan Edward Polus