The Boeing Company

Theboeing Company

Karlgren Ka-Tsun Lai

Andrew Klimovski

Benjamin Stanislaw Zielinski

Systems and methods are provided for applying lengthwise curvature to composite parts. One embodiment is a method that includes fabricating a preform for a curved pultruded gap filler by continuously: heating fiber reinforced material to a sticking point temperature for a constituent material within the fiber reinforced material, and feeding the fiber reinforced material through a die that exhibits a curvature through which the fiber reinforced material travels while the fiber reinforced material is heated to the sticking point temperature, the die forming the fiber reinforced material into a preform for a gap filler. Fabricating the curved pultruded preform further includes varying path lengths of fibers within the preform as the preform passes through the die, and pulling the preform out of the die.

Pultrusion systems that apply lengthwise curvature to composite parts

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating gap fillers for composite parts. One exemplary system includes a controller that acquires a geometry for a gap filler that will occupy a volume at a joint between laminates of curable constituent material, subdivides the geometry of the gap filler into layers, and for each layer: identifies variations in width of the layer along a length of the gap filler, and generates instructions for trimming a web of curable constituent material to match the variations in width of the layer. The system also includes rollers that dispense webs of the curable constituent material, trimmers that trim the webs of the curable constituent material based on the instructions, and compaction rollers that compact the trimmed webs together to fabricate the gap filler.

Growing community of inventors

Doncaster East, Australia

Karlgren Ka-Tsun Lai