Joining thermoplastic components

A system for joining a first thermoplastic component to a second thermoplastic component, the system comprising:

• a pressure device;
• first tooling configured with a first tooling geometry that conforms to a first side geometry of an assembly of the first thermoplastic component and the second thermoplastic component, the first tooling including a first surface configured to abut against the first thermoplastic component and the second thermoplastic component, and the first tooling comprises a first heater and a first cooler;
• and
• second tooling configured with a second tooling geometry that conforms to a second side geometry of the assembly, the second tooling including a second surface configured to abut against the first thermoplastic component and the second thermoplastic component, and the second surface longitudinally overlapping and vertically opposite the first surface, wherein one of the first surface and the second surface comprises a concave surface, and the other one of the first surface and the second surface comprises a convex surface adapted to project vertically into a groove formed by the concave surface;
• the system configured to join a first joint section of the first thermoplastic component to a second joint section of the second thermoplastic component to provide a unitized thermoplastic structure, wherein during the joining the system is configured to
• press the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component vertically against the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component between the first tooling and the second tooling using the pressure device;
• and
• heat the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component and the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component using the first heater;
• and
• the system further configured to cool the unitized thermoplastic structure using the first cooler.

A joining method, comprising:

• selecting a tooling insert from a set of a plurality of different tooling inserts based on a configuration of at least one of a first thermoplastic component and a second thermoplastic component;
• mating the tooling insert with a tooling base to provide first tooling, the tooling base configured with a first heater and a first cooler;
• arranging a first joint section of the first thermoplastic component and a second joint section of the second thermoplastic component between the first tooling and second tooling, the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component abutted against the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component;
• joining the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component to the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component to provide a unitized thermoplastic structure, the joining comprising
• pressing the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component against the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component between the tooling insert and the second tooling;
• and
• heating the first joint section of the first thermoplastic component and the second joint section of the second thermoplastic component using the first heater;
• and
• cooling the unitized thermoplastic structure using the first cooler.