Systems and methods for assembling a skin of a composite structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9511548-B1
Application number	US-201314055062-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 16, 2013
Priority date	Oct 16, 2013
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for assembling a skin of a composite structure are disclosed herein. The methods include operatively attaching a charge of composite material to a flexible substrate to define an initial conformation for a composite-substrate assembly and locating the composite-substrate assembly and a layup mandrel proximal to one another. The methods further include pressing the composite-substrate assembly against an outer surface of the layup mandrel to deform the composite-substrate assembly to a final conformation. The methods also include affixing the charge of composite material to the outer surface of the layup mandrel and releasing the charge of composite material from the flexible substrate while retaining the charge of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel. The systems include the flexible substrate, the layup mandrel, and an assembly deformation structure that is configured to press the composite-substrate assembly against the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of assembling a skin of a composite structure on an outer surface of a layup mandrel, the method comprising:
operatively attaching a charge of composite material to a flexible substrate to define an initial conformation for a composite-substrate assembly that includes the charge of composite material and the flexible substrate;
locating the composite-substrate assembly and the layup mandrel proximal to one another;
supporting a first portion of the composite-substrate assembly with a first support surface and supporting a second portion of the composite-substrate assembly with a second support surface, wherein the first support surface and the second support surface define a longitudinal opening therebetween;
pressing the composite-substrate assembly against the outer surface of the layup mandrel to deform the composite-substrate assembly to a final conformation that is different from the initial conformation, wherein the supporting of the first portion and the supporting of the second portion occur prior to the pressing, and further wherein the pressing includes moving the layup mandrel, the first support surface, and the second support surface relative to one another such that the outer surface of the layup mandrel contacts the charge of composite material and urges the charge of composite material into the longitudinal opening;
affixing the charge of composite material to the outer surface of the layup mandrel; and
releasing the charge of composite material from the flexible substrate while retaining the charge of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operatively attaching includes applying a retention vacuum between the charge of composite material and the flexible substrate with a retention vacuum manifold that is defined by the flexible substrate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further includes maintaining the retention vacuum during the pressing to retain the charge of composite material on the flexible substrate.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further includes regulating a magnitude of the retention vacuum during the pressing to control a relative motion between the charge of composite material and the flexible substrate during the pressing.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing includes applying a first deformation force to the flexible substrate and simultaneously applying a second deformation force to the charge of composite material to compress the charge of composite material between the flexible substrate and the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second deformation force is directed away from the outer surface of the layup mandrel, and further wherein the second deformation force is applied by the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing includes conforming the composite-substrate assembly to at least one of (i) the outer surface of the layup mandrel and (ii) a contour of the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing includes extending a piston, wherein the extending further includes receiving the piston within a respective indexing recess that is defined by the layup mandrel to align the charge of composite material with the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing includes applying a deformation force to an edge of the composite-substrate assembly to urge the edge of the composite-substrate assembly toward the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing includes moving the first support surface and the second support surface away from one another to increase a width of the longitudinal opening.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the releasing includes ceasing a retention vacuum between the charge of composite material and the flexible substrate.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein, prior to the releasing, the method further includes compacting the charge of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel, wherein the compacting the charge of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel includes applying a compaction vacuum between the flexible substrate and the outer surface of the layup mandrel with a compaction vacuum manifold that is defined by the flexible substrate.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the charge of composite material is a first charge of composite material, wherein the method includes repeating the operatively attaching a plurality of times to generate a plurality of composite-substrate assemblies that include a respective plurality of charges of composite material and a respective plurality of flexible substrates, and further wherein the method includes repeating the pressing and the releasing a plurality of times with the plurality of composite-substrate assemblies to retain the respective plurality of charges of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel and define the skin for the composite structure.

14. A method of assembling a skin of a composite structure on an outer surface of a layup mandrel, the method comprising:
operatively attaching a charge of composite material to a flexible substrate to define an initial conformation for a composite-substrate assembly that includes the charge of composite material and the flexible substrate;
locating the composite-substrate assembly and the layup mandrel proximal to one another;
supporting a first portion of the composite-substrate assembly with a first support surface and supporting a second portion of the composite-substrate assembly with a second support surface, wherein the first support surface and the second support surface define a longitudinal opening therebetween, wherein the locating includes contacting the outer surface of the layup mandrel with a portion of the composite-substrate assembly that extends across the longitudinal opening;
pressing the composite-substrate assembly against the outer surface of the layup mandrel to deform the composite-substrate assembly to a final conformation that is different from the initial conformation, wherein the supporting of the first portion and the supporting of the second portion occur prior to the pressing, and further wherein the pressing includes moving the layup mandrel, the first support surface, and the second support surface relative to one another such that the layup mandrel is located within the longitudinal opening;
affixing the charge of composite material to the outer surface of the layup mandrel; and
releasing the charge of composite material from the flexible substrate while retaining the charge of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the charge of composite material is a first charge of composite material, wherein the method includes repeating the operatively attaching a plurality of times to generate a plurality of composite-substrate assemblies that include a respective plurality of charges of composite material and a respective plurality of flexible substrates, and further wherein the method includes repeating the pressing and the releasing a plurality of times with the plurality of composite-substrate assemblies to retain the respective plurality of charges of composite material on the outer surface of the layup mandrel and define the skin for the composite structure.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the pressing includes conforming the composite-substrate assembly to at least one of (i)

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Rotter Daniel M
• Berg Arvid J
• Anderson Joseph D
• Willden Kurtis Shuldberg
• Phillips Richard V
• Metschan Stephen Lee
• Coxon Brad Andrew
• Pruss Joseph J

Classifications

• B29C70/44 Primary

  using isostatic pressure, e.g. pressure difference-moulding, vacuum bag-moulding, autoclave-moulding or expanding rubber-moulding · CPC title

• B32B37/1018

  using only vacuum · CPC title

• B29C66/8161

  said pressing elements being supported or backed-up by springs or by resilient material · CPC title

• B32B37/10

  characterised by the pressing technique, e.g. using action of vacuum or fluid pressure · CPC title

• B29C66/81455

  being a fluid inflatable bag or bladder, a diaphragm or a vacuum bag for applying isostatic pressure (inflatable element positioned between the joining tool and a backing-up part B29C66/82421) · CPC title