Apparatus and method for facilitating a vacuum bagging operation during fabrication of a composite laminate
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsKenneth H. Griess, Gary E. Georgeson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is provided for facilitating a vacuum bagging operation during fabrication of a composite laminate. The method comprises applying a vacuum bag over a composite part to fabricate the composite laminate from the composite part. The method also comprises drawing a vacuum in the vacuum bag, and monitoring one or more portions of the vacuum bag for strain within the vacuum bag when the vacuum is drawn. The method further comprises manipulating the vacuum bag to even out strain within the vacuum bag.
Claims23
A method for vacuum bagging comprising:
- applying a vacuum bag, the vacuum bag comprising an interior surface configured to face a composite part, an exterior surface opposite the interior surface, and a pattern of indicia disposed on at least a portion of the exterior surface;
- detecting vacuum bag stress levels in at least a portion of the vacuum bag by detecting a change in the pattern of indicia using an optical monitoring unit;
- and
- manipulating at least a portion of the vacuum bag based on detected vacuum bag stress levels to even out the vacuum bag stress levels.
A method for facilitating a vacuum bagging operation during fabrication of a composite laminate, the method comprising:
- applying a vacuum bag over a composite part to fabricate the composite laminate from the composite part;
- drawing a vacuum in the vacuum bag;
- optically monitoring one or more portions of the vacuum bag to detect strain within the vacuum bag when the vacuum is drawn;
- and
- manipulating the vacuum bag based on detected strain to even out the strain within the vacuum bag.
An apparatus for facilitating a vacuum bagging operation, the apparatus comprising:
- a vacuum bag comprising an interior surface configured to face a composite part and an exterior surface opposite the interior surface;
- a pattern of indicia disposed on at least a portion of the exterior surface of the vacuum bag;
- an optical monitoring unit configured to detect a change in the pattern of indicia;
- and
- a computer system adapted to correlate the change in the pattern of indicia to vacuum bag stress levels in the vacuum bag and to detect the vacuum bag stress levels in the vacuum bag when a vacuum is drawn in the vacuum bag,
- wherein the vacuum bag is configured to be manipulated to even out the vacuum bag stress levels in response to detected vacuum bag stress levels.
A method for vacuum bagging comprising:
- applying a vacuum bag;
- sensing vacuum bag stress levels by capturing shearography data at various positions of the vacuum bag;
- and
- manipulating portions of the vacuum bag based on sensed vacuum bag stress levels to even out vacuum bag stress levels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.