Method of fabricating a vacuum barrier system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10479032-B2
Application number	US-201615193974-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2016
Priority date	Oct 31, 2012
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A method of fabricating a vacuum barrier system includes fabricating a soluble forming mandrel, laying up composite material over the soluble forming mandrel, and applying a forming mandrel vacuum bag over the composite material and curing the composite tooling material to form a cured composite bag carrier. The method also includes de-bagging and trimming the cured composite bag carrier.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of fabricating a vacuum barrier system, comprising the steps of:
fabricating a soluble forming mandrel;
laying up composite material over the soluble forming mandrel;
applying a forming mandrel vacuum bag over the composite material and curing the composite material;
removing the forming mandrel vacuum bag to reveal a cured non-soluble composite bag carrier;
assembling a soluble detail onto an end of the cured non-soluble composite bag carrier to form a bag carrier assembly; and
applying rubber material over the bag carrier assembly and curing to form a cured bladder.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
washing out the soluble forming mandrel.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of:
applying a thin film vacuum bag over the cured bladder to provide a redundant gas barrier for sealing the bag carrier assembly.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the step of:
adding a vacuum fitting to the cured bladder; and
drawing, via the vacuum fitting, a vacuum on the cured bladder to draw the cured bladder against bag carrier tool surfaces and soluble detail surfaces to assist in installing the bag carrier assembly into a composite part.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of fabricating the soluble forming mandrel comprises at least one of:
curing a foam mixture within a mold of the forming mandrel; and
three-dimensional printing the forming mandrel.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
forming the bag carrier with a hollow bag carrier interior.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
forming the soluble detail in a shape that is complementary to non-draftable geometry of a composite part.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
forming the bag carrier and the soluble detail with a keyed geometry.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the non-soluble composite bag carrier is formed of carbon fiber-reinforced polymeric material or fiberglass fiber-reinforced polymeric material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein laying up composite material over the soluble forming mandrel comprises:
applying prepreg over the soluble forming mandrel.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the non-soluble composite bag carrier includes one or more openings on one or both bag carrier ends.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the non-soluble composite bag carrier has a hollow bag carrier channel extending at least partially through the non-soluble composite bag carrier along a bag carrier length.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the soluble detail is solid.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the soluble detail is soluble in a polar solvent.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the non-soluble composite bag carrier has a bag carrier keyed end; and
the keyed geometry of the soluble detail is configured complementary to the bag carrier keyed end.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the keyed geometry of the soluble detail is configured to prevent movement of the soluble detail relative to the bag carrier.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the bladder is formed of natural polymeric material and/or synthetic polymeric material.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the polymeric material is one of nylon material, polyamide material, or rubber material.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the rubber material is one of silicone rubber, latex rubber, or fluoropolymeric rubber.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the bladder is formed to a thickness of 0.005 to 0.25 inch.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Lyons Brett I
• Albers Robert G

Classifications

• B29C33/505

  cores or mandrels, e.g. inflatable (B29C33/0016 takes precedence; for winding and joining B29C53/824; for supporting articles during joining B29C66/634; flexible cores for vulcanizing tyres B29D30/0654) · CPC title

• B29K2995/0059

  Degradable · CPC title

• B29C70/443

  and impregnating by vacuum or injection · CPC title

• B29C70/446 Primary

  Moulding structures having an axis of symmetry or at least one channel, e.g. tubular structures, frames · CPC title

• B29K2105/06

  containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts · CPC title