Equipment and process for making a structural element in composite material

An equipment for making a structural element of composite material having a longitudinal axis and an axial cavity, said equipment comprising:

• a support frame;
• and
• a laminating mandrel, which is mounted on said support frame in a rotatable manner about a central axis and defines an outer laminating surface for laminating one or more layers of composite material to be cured or pre-cured into the structural element;
• wherein said support frame includes:
• two vertical headers, facing each other and parallel to each other, extending in use transversely to said central axis of said laminating mandrel and capable of accommodating between them the laminating mandrel;
• and
• longitudinal connecting means for longitudinally connecting said headers;
• each header comprising a fixed portion and a movable portion, coaxially receiving said laminating mandrel and rotatable about said central axis with respect to said fixed portion;
• wherein said laminating mandrel comprises:
• a central shaft defining said central axis;
• a plurality of sectors angularly spaced apart about said central axis;
• and
• a plurality of linear actuators each extending between said central shaft and a respective sector of the plurality of sectors to move the sectors between an expanded laminating position, in which said sectors are adjacent to each other at the maximum distance from said central shaft and define said laminating surface, and a contracted position, in which said sectors are adjacent to said central shaft and partially overlapping each other;
• wherein said equipment also comprises:
• first constraining means for connecting in a releasable manner said sectors in said expanded laminating position to said movable portions of said headers;
• and
• second constraining means connecting each of said linear actuators to the respective sector in a releasable manner so as to enable the extraction of said central shaft and said linear actuators from remaining parts of said equipment in the condition in which said sectors, arranged in said expanded laminating position, are connected to said movable portions of said headers by means of said first constraining means.