Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Teijin Limited

Continental Structural Plastics, Inc.

Southern Clay Products, Inc.

William R Rodgers

Venkateshwar R Aitharaju

Hamid Ghavami Kia

Selina X Zhao

Terrence Wathen

Paula Diane Fasulo

Nancy L Johnson

Alan L Browne

Anil Kumar Sachdev

Tao Xie

John C Ulicny

Robert Augustine Ottaviani

Howard W Cox

David A Okonski

Mark William Verbrugge

Paul Edward Krajewski

Nilesh D Mankame

Xiujie Gao

Xiaosong Huang

Blair E Carlson

Ingrid A Rousseau

Pablo D Zavattieri

Ryan Gergely

Chandra S Namuduri

Paul W Alexander

Xingcheng Xiao

Christopher Paul Henry

Robin Stevenson

Sanjeev Manubhai Naik

Gary Lee Jones

Thomas Arthur Perry

James W Wells

William B Barvosa-Carter

Dorel M Sala

David R Staley

Elena M Sherman

Elisabeth Jane Berger

Chen-Shih Wang

Jan Henning Aase

Bruce N Greve

John Neal Owens

Mark A Golden

Andrew Mark Mance

Louis G Hector, Jr

Mark A Voss

Yang T Cheng

Bhavesh Shah

John Anthony Cafeo

Michael J Lukitsch

Marie-Christine G Jones

Thomas C Pederson

Yutaka Yagi

Kevin R Marks

Ukpai I Ukpai

Ronald Charles Daul

Kenneth A Strom

Jessica A Schroeder

Terry Andrew Kent

James Y Khoury

Len V Peschansky

John Andrew Shaw

Keith S Snavely

Balbir S Sangha

Rainer A Glaser

Michael H Lovell

Andrew J Galant

Fred M Marquardt

Jonathan Darab

Daniel E Rodak

Bikramjit Sarkaria

Tomohiro Ryutani

Michael J Irwin

Adrian Bica

Man Zhang

Tiffanie E Coe

Darrell W Rebman

Yana Aliaj

David Kennedy

Glen Novak

Manish Pamwar

Tadeusz B Pietrzyk

William Parker

John Collins

Benjamin Reedlunn

Ravindra Brammajyosula

Carol Ann Perelli

Douglas L Hunter

The present application discloses a method of making a preform for use in manufacturing a component made of a composite material. The method includes stitching fibers onto a film to form a fiber bed in a two-dimensional shape, removing the film from the fiber bed, and adjusting the fiber bed into a three-dimensional shape to form the preform.

System and method of forming a fiber preform for use in manufacturing a component made of a composite material

Presented are hybrid metal and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite wheels for vehicle wheel assemblies, methods for making/using such wheels, and motor vehicles equipped with such wheels. A wheel for a motor vehicle wheel assembly includes a wheel face with multiple spokes that are circumferentially spaced about and project radially outward from a central hub. The central hub rotatably attaches to the vehicle's body, e.g., via a corner module. The wheel face is fabricated, e.g., as a one-piece structure, from an FRP material. A wheel barrel, which circumscribes the wheel face, includes an annular rim that mounts thereon an inflatable tire. The wheel barrel is fabricated, e.g., as a one-piece structure, from a metallic material. Multiple overmold through holes and/or inset tabs are circumferentially spaced about the annular rim. The FRP material extends through and/or surrounds the overmold through holes/inset tabs and thereby mounts the wheel face to the wheel barrel.

Hybrid metal and composite polymer wheels for motor vehicles

A chassis assembly having mixed material for reduced mass is provided. The assembly comprises an upper structure comprised of metal. The upper structure has a plurality of first bond surfaces, each of which is parallel with each other at varying elevations relative to a z-axis of a 3-dimensional coordinate thereof. The assembly further comprises a lower structure made of a polymer composite. The lower structure has a plurality of second bond surfaces, each of which is parallel with each other at varying elevations relative to the z-axis thereof. The second bond surfaces are arranged to align with the first bond surfaces in complementing relation such that the lower structure is joined with the upper structure at the first and second bond surfaces. The assembly further comprises an adhesive disposed between the first and second bond surfaces to join the lower and upper structures at the first and second bond surfaces, defining a bond gap between the first and second bond surfaces.

Chassis assembly having mixed materials

A composite panel for a vehicle includes a plurality of layers bonded together by resin. A sensing assembly is arranged between at least two of the plurality of layers. The sensing assembly includes at least one of a piezoelectric layer to sense vibration of the composite panel when installed on the vehicle and a thermopile configured to sense changes in temperature of the composite panel when installed on the vehicle. The sensing assembly further includes a transmitter configured to transmit data to the vehicle based on an output of the at least one of the piezoelectric layer and the thermopile.

Composite panel with a wireless, self-powered or remotely powered sensing assembly

An in-mold coating includes graphene and a base material including an unsaturated polyester and/or a vinyl ester monomer. A part includes a main body formed of a polymeric sheet molding compound and an in-mold coating disposed on the main body, where the in-mold coating includes graphene and a base material that comprises an unsaturated polyester and/or a vinyl ester monomer. A method of creating an in-mold coating includes providing a base material comprising at least one of an unsaturated polyester and a vinyl ester monomer, and the method further includes adding graphene to the base material.

In-mold coating with improved flowability

A method of manufacturing a composite component according to various aspects of the present disclosure includes disposing a fiber preform in a mold. The fiber preform includes a first portion having a first edge and a second portion having a second edge. The first edge and the second edge cooperate to at least partially define a gap. One of the first portion or the second portion includes a first ferromagnetic material and the other of the first portion or the second portion includes a first magnetic or magnetizable component. The method further includes closing the gap by generating a magnetic field from the first magnetic or magnetizable component. The method further includes injecting a polymer precursor into the mold. The method further includes forming the composite component by solidifying the polymer precursor to form a polymer. The composite component includes the fiber preform and the polymer.

Composite components and methods of manufacturing composite components using magnetic forces at fiber preform seams

A method is provided for forming a near-net thermoplastic composite component includes co-spraying a mixture comprising a thermoplastic polymer material and a chopped reinforcing material deposited onto at least one region associated with a tool having a first temperature and defining a near-net component shape. The mixture and adjacent tool is heated to a second temperature while the mixture is on the tool. The first temperature is below the solidification temperature of the thermoplastic polymer material and the second temperature is above the solidification temperature. Then, the mixture is exposed to a negative pressure to promote removal of gases from the mixture and put under compressive force to densify the mixture. The thermoplastic polymer material melts and flows. The tool is cooled to the first temperature and removing the mixture to form the near-net thermoplastic composite component having randomly oriented chopped reinforcement material distributed within a thermoplastic polymer matrix.

Methods of forming near-net fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite components

A mold for molding a reinforced preform having at least two apertures therein includes first and second mold halves, first and second emitters disposed in the mold halves and configured to emit light therefrom, first and second receivers disposed in the mold halves and configured to receive light from the respective first and second emitters, and first and second moving members having couplings for connection with side portions of the reinforced preform and actuators for moving the couplings between respective first and second positions. A controller determines an alignment condition based on signals received from the receivers. If the alignment condition fails to meet predetermined criteria, then at least one of the actuators is caused to move its coupling from its respective first position to a respective adjusted position that is different from the respective second position.

Mold and method for molding a reinforced preform

A composite fusion filament is disclosed that includes a polymer encasement and one or more mesogenic reinforcement bodies contained within the polymer encasement. The polymer encasement is comprised of a thermoplastic polymer, which has a melting temperature, and each of the one or more mesogenic reinforcement bodies is comprised of a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer, which has a clearing temperature. The melting temperature of the thermoplastic polymer included in the polymer encasement is less than the clearing temperature of the thermotropic liquid crystal polymer included in the one or more mesogenic reinforcement bodies. Additionally, the thermotropic liquid crystal polymer of each mesogenic reinforcement body has a plurality of organized crystalline fibrils that are aligned lengthwise along a longitudinal axis of the polymer encasement. A method of using the composite fusion filament to form a bond with a substrate that includes a thermoplastic polymer is also disclosed.

Composite fusion filament

A fused filament deposition head is employed for depositing filament materials on workpieces to join the workpieces together. The workpieces can be of an automotive application, aerospace application, or something else. The fused filament deposition head, in an example, has a feed end, a dispensing end, and a heater. The feed end introduces more than one filament in the fused filament deposition head, as demanded in the larger application. The dispensing end delivers materials of the filaments to the underlying workpieces. The materials are delivered together. The heater serves to heat the filaments as they travel through the fused filament deposition head. The filaments can include a filament having a core portion of liquid-crystal polymer material.

Filament deposition head and method of depositing filament material for joining workpieces

A reinforced preform includes a sheet of reinforced material having opposed first and second edges, with each edge having a respective first connection point located therealong. The preform also includes first and second tethers, with each tether being attached at a respective first end thereof to a respective one of the first connection points and having a respective second end thereof terminating in at least one of: a respective loop tied at the respective second end, a respective knot tied at the respective second end, a respective graspable member to which the respective second end is connected, and an attachment to a respective second connection point located along a perimeter of the sheet. A method and mold for molding a reinforced preform are also disclosed.

Reinforced preform and method for molding

Presented are manufacturing control systems for fabricating composite-material structures, methods for making/operating such systems, and resin transfer molding techniques for ameliorating race-tracking effects in fiber-reinforced polymer panels. A method for forming a composite-material construction includes confirming, via a system electronic control unit (ECU), that a fiber-based preform is placed in a mold cavity and that opposing mold segments of the molding apparatus are sealed together. A filler, such as a compressible bladder, a cluster of spring-biased pins, or a spray-chopped fiber bed, is introduced into a void between the fiber-based preform and a tool face of one mold segment to thereby eliminate an unwanted resin race track. The system ECU commands a resin pump to inject resin through a primary gate of the molding apparatus and into the mold cavity to thereby impregnate the fiber-based preform with the resin. One or more vents operate to evacuate air from the mold.

Resin transfer molding systems and control logic for manufacturing fiber-reinforced composite parts

Methods for forming composite articles include providing a non-crimp fabric (NCF) comprising a plurality of fiber plies maintained in a layup by stitching, wherein the stitching exhibits a lower structural tolerance to heat and/or UV light relative to the fiber plies, selectively degrading the stitching in one or more areas using heat or UV light, draping the NCF on a contoured article, applying a polymer matrix material to the draped NCF, and curing the polymer matrix material to form a contoured composite article. The stitching can be degraded in regions of the NCF which, when draped on the contoured article, correspond to topological features of the contoured article. Degrading the stitching can comprise breaking the stitching. The fiber plies can comprise carbon fibers, glass fibers, and/or basalt fibers. The contoured article can be tooling and/or an automotive component. The NCF can be a bi-axial NCF.

Methods for forming composite articles from non-crimp fabrics

An energy-absorbing assembly includes a housing and a plurality of discrete energy-absorbing elements. The housing includes a first wall and a second wall. The first wall and the second wall are spaced apart from one another to at least partially define an interior compartment. Each element of the plurality of energy-absorbing elements includes a polymer and a plurality of reinforcing fibers. The plurality of energy-absorbing elements is at least partially disposed within the interior compartment and fixed to the housing. Each energy-absorbing element of the plurality of energy-absorbing elements includes an elongated hollow structure extending between a first end and a second end. Each elongated hollow structure defines a longitudinal axis extending nonparallel to at least one of the first wall and the second wall. In various alternative aspects, each energy-absorbing element may include a transverse wall.

Composite energy-absorbing assembly

Methods of repairing a defect in a polymeric composite structure are provided. The methods include disposing a patch over a defect in a polymeric composite structure; disposing a textured sheet over the polymeric patch, applying pressure to the polymeric patch and the textured sheet; and heating the polymeric patch. The textured sheet has a surface texture that is a negative of a surface texture of the polymeric composite structure.

Cosmetic repair of a thermoplastic carbon fiber composite

Growing community of inventors

Bloomfield Township, MI, United States of America

William R Rodgers