Lightweight Integrally Stiffened Composite Structure

Increased performance and reduced cost structures, is the direction many aerospace companies work toward. Our objective in Phase I is to demonstrate our automated in-situ fiber placement processing technology can provide low cost manufacturing methods with thermoplastic composites while maintaining structural integrity, increased performance and address issues such as corrosion and impact resistance. Our technology offers the ability to integrate stiffening components into the skin structure without the use of mechanical fasteners and adhesives. Instead, we will demonstrate the melt bonding attachment techniques that result in totally integrated structure. A continuous graphite fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tape will be used in conjunction with our technology to demonstrate repeatable, accurate and low labor methods to produce high quality, integrally stiffened structures. The fiber placement technology allows us to overcome previous hurdles associated with building structures with prepreg material such as non conformability of the material, wrinkling and detailed geometry. There is not the need for labor intensive post processing (Autoclave) that is inherent with many other composite manufacturing methods. This technology is both versatile and robust enough to produce a variety of different part configurations in a low cost fashion while still maintaining the high quality demanded by the aerospace world.