Textron Innovations Inc.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Mike Mikel

Suvankar Mishra

Ramesh Thiagarajan

Mark Chris

William Evans, Iii

William Evans

Savankar Mishra

A structure includes a skin and a foam member. The foam member has a molded contour, the mold contour being configured to provide tooled surface for the skin. When the skin is a composite skin, the foam member provides support for the skin so that the skin can be cured under heat and pressure. A method of making the foam member for a foam stiffened structure includes creating a mold having an interior cavity which resembles a desired shape the foam member. A subsequent step involves introducing a foam mixture into the mold. Next, the foam mixture is allowed to polymerize so as to expand and distribute within the cavity of the mold. The method further includes selectively controlling a density of the foam member in the mold. The foam member is at least partially cured. The foam member is assembled with a skin to produce the foam stiffened structure.

Foam stiffened structure and method of making the same

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Fort Worth, TX, United States of America

Mike Mikel