The Boeing Company

Stephen Keith Kirchmeier

Kurtis Shuldberg Willden

Daniel M Rotter

Brad Andrew Coxon

Joseph D Anderson

Brian Gregory Robins

Stephen Lee Metschan

Jennifer Sue Noel

Kimberlee Madden

Henry Macias

Darrell Darwin Jones

Daniel R Smith

Paul Elfes Nelson

Raviendra Sidath Suriyaarachchi

Richard V Phillips

Jeremy Evan Justice

Paul Chace Wilcoxson

Arvid J Berg

Robert William Whiting

Paul Chih-Yung Chang

Jason A Medenciy

Scott Allen Boner

Paul T Pritchard

Michael Beerman

Eugene H Jeppesen

Frederick Theodore Calkins

James Henry Mabe

Bernhard Dopker

Edward Andrew Whalen

Wallace C H Chan

Donald William Ruhmann

Systems are provided for fabricating a preform for a fuselage section of an aircraft. The system includes advancing a series of arcuate mandrel sections in a process direction through an assembly line, laying up fiber reinforced material onto the arcuate mandrel sections via layup stations, uniting the series of arcuate mandrel sections into a combined mandrel; and splicing the fiber reinforced material laid-up onto the arcuate mandrel sections.

Composite assembly for unhardened fuselage components

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating a preform for a fuselage section of an aircraft. The method includes advancing a series of arcuate mandrel sections in a process direction through an assembly line, laying up fiber reinforced material onto the arcuate mandrel sections via layup stations, uniting the series of arcuate mandrel sections into a combined mandrel; and splicing the fiber reinforced material laid-up onto the arcuate mandrel sections.

A method for aligning and joining a first structure to a second structure in an aircraft is provided. A spacer system having a shape memory alloy is positioned in a gap between the first structure and the second structure. The shape memory alloy is initially in a cooled state. A temperature of the shape memory alloy is increased such that the shape memory alloy changes from the cooled shape to a heated shape to fill the gap and apply a load to hold the first structure in place relative to the second structure. Additional processes may then be performed to join the first structure to the second structure.

Shape memory alloy spacer system

Systems and methods for assembling a skin of a composite structure on an outer surface of an inner mold line layup mandrel. The systems and methods include receiving a plurality of ply kits, assembling the plurality of ply kits to form a skin segment that defines a portion of the skin, and affixing the skin segment to the outer surface of the layup mandrel. The assembling includes transferring a respective ply kit of the plurality of ply kits to a non-planar transfer tool, compacting the respective ply kit on the non-planar transfer tool, and repeating the transferring and the compacting for each ply kit in the plurality of ply kits to form the skin segment.

Systems and methods for assembling a skin of a composite structure

Methods of assembling a stiffened composite structure include loading, with a stiffener loading tool, a respective stiffener from a supply of stiffeners onto an inner mold line layup mandrel; repeating the loading to load a plurality of stiffeners onto the inner mold line layup mandrel; and following the repeating, affixing a respective skin segment from a supply of skin segments to the plurality of stiffeners loaded on the inner mold line layup mandrel to form at least a portion of the stiffened composite structure. Systems for assembling stiffened composite structures include a supply of stiffeners; an inner mold line layup mandrel; and a stiffener loading tool configured to load the respective stiffener onto the inner mold line layup mandrel.

Systems and methods for assembling stiffened composite structures

Tools for forming a corrugated structure from a pliable blank include a plurality of forming blocks that laterally move relative to each other, a compaction mechanism configured to selectively conform the pliable blank to the forming blocks, and a block translating mechanism configured to reconfigure the tool from a pre-formed configuration to a post-formed configuration, in which the forming blocks are positioned closer together than when the tool is in the pre-formed configuration. Associated systems, methods, and apparatuses also are disclosed herein.

Systems, tools, and methods for forming corrugated structures and apparatuses including corrugated structures

Systems, tools, and methods for forming composite tubular stringers and stiffened composite structures having composite tubular stringers are disclosed. Systems include a tool, a supply of pliable blanks for forming composite tubular stringers with the tool, a supply of skin segments for forming a skin, and a layup mandrel for receiving the composite tubular stringers and the skin to form a stiffened composite structure. Tools include a wrapping mandrel for forming from a pliable blank a tubular structure with a first circumferential profile, and a transition mandrel for conforming the tubular structure to a second circumferential profile. Methods include wrapping a pliable blank around a wrapping mandrel to define a tubular structure having a first circumferential profile, and transitioning the tubular structure from having the first circumferential profile to having a second circumferential profile.

Systems, tools, and methods for forming composite tubular stringers and stiffened composite structures having composite tubular stringers

Growing community of inventors

Bothell, WA, United States of America

Stephen Keith Kirchmeier