Method of manufacturing a complex structure made of a composite by assembling rigid components

A method of manufacturing a complex structure from a composite, comprising at least two individual structural parts assembled by at least one edge of one of said two individual structural parts, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) producing the individual structural parts;
• b) producing at least one assembly component capable of ensuring a structural bond between the individual structural parts, said at least one assembly component:
• b1) being made of a composite containing fibers impregnated with a resin capable of curing by polymerization in the course of hot curing;
• b2) comprising fins attached to a core, at least one pair of fins defining at least one groove, intended to receive said edge of an individual structural part, whose groove bottom width at the level of the core corresponds more or less at any point to a thickness of the individual structural part along the edge that has to be inserted into said groove;
• and
• b3) being subjected to a partial hot curing leading to partial polymerization of the resin of the assembly component, on the one hand, up to a stage at which said component has acquired a sufficient dimensional stability to make possible its handling and to guarantee its integrity during the subsequent assembly operations, and, on the other hand, said polymerization being limited to a stage at which the resin has thermoplastic properties permitting plastic forming of said assembly component by raising its temperature;
• c) positioning the at least two individual structural parts and the at least one assembly component corresponding to their respective relative positions in the structure to be manufactured;
• d) raising the temperature, at least locally, up to a thermoforming temperature of the fins and applying a pressure P to said fins to apply said fins to the faces of the individual parts;
• and
• e) carrying out a complete hot curing by polymerization of the resin of the at least one assembly component.