LOW COST NET SHAPE COMPOSITE STRUCTURES FABRICATION

A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED FOR RESEARCH OF INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING THERMOSET COMPOSITE AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES. CONCEPTS TO BE STUDIED WILL REDUCE COSTS WHILE MAINTAINING OR IMPROVING CURRENT AEROSPACE QUALITY STANDARDS. THE PROGRAM WILL IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE LOW COST METHODS AND APPROACHES TO AUTOMATED FABRICATION OF AIRPLANE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY STRUCTURES. CONCEPTS CHOSEN FOR EVALUATION WILL SHOW PARTICULAR INNOVATION RELATIVE TO CURRENT PRACTICES. TYPICAL CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION OF MANUFACTURING CONCEPTS IN THIS STUDY ARE: LOW COST, HIGH RATE, ADAPTABILITY TO AUTOMATION, CAPABILITY OF ON-LINE PROCESS MONITORING, AND IN-PROCESS FINAL PART QUALITY CONTROL. SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS ARE GIVEN. EMPHASIS WILL BE ON INNOVATIVE NET-SHAPE MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES THAT USE LOW-COST RAW MATERIAL FORMS AND CURRENT OR NEAR-TERM MATERIAL HANDLING METHODS AND CAN EMPLOY AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN INDUSTRY. CHOSEN METHODS WILL BE EVALUATED AND RANKED WITH FINAL RECOMMENDATION OF A PREFERRED CONCEPT TO BE DEMONSTRATED IN A PHASE II.