Expandable tooling systems and methods
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJonathan A. Santiago, Xiaoxi Wang, Gary Ernest Georgeson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods of manufacturing composite workpieces that include adding an expandable element to an internal volume of a constraining container proximate to a uncured composite workpiece supported on a rigid form, where the expandable element is configured to expand when a predetermined change is produced in an attribute of the expandable element; expanding the expandable element by producing the predetermined change in the attribute of the expandable element, so that an expansion of the expandable element applies pressure to the workpiece supported on the rigid form within the internal volume, and curing the composite workpiece while the resulting pressure is applied to the workpiece supported on the rigid form.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing a composite workpiece, comprising:
- adding foamable pellets to an internal volume of a constraining container proximate to an uncured composite workpiece supported on a rigid form, the foamable pellets being configured to expand when a predetermined change is produced in an attribute of the foamable pellets;
- expanding the foamable pellets by producing the predetermined change in the attribute of the foamable pellets, so that an expansion of the foamable pellets applies a resulting pressure to the workpiece supported on the rigid form within the internal volume;
- and
- curing the composite workpiece while the resulting pressure is applied to the workpiece supported on the rigid form.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.