Novel Standalone Cure Systems to Improve Reliability of Composite Pi-Joints

Triton will develop a standalone curing system to improve the reliability of bonded Pi-Joints for the Navy. The system will address the concerns identified in the solicitation that led to inconsistencies and scatter in the performance of current Pi-Joints. The developed system can be integrated into existing manufacturing procedures and will be adaptable to various Pi-Joint geometries, stringers, and curvatures. During the Phase I, the individual features of the proposed system will be applied to the manufacturing of flat panel-stringer Pi-Joints. The bond lines will be inspected, and joints will be mechanically tested to demonstrate the improved reliability of the system when employed in manufacturing. In the Phase II effort, Triton will transition to larger scale, representative coupons and integrate the demonstrated technologies from Phase I into a standalone system for lab scale manufacturing. Models will be developed to assess the cure path tendencies and the system’s ability to address this variability. The use of the tool on larger scale coupons will be assessed to demonstrate their mechanical properties, durability, maintainability, reliability, inspectability, weight efficiency, and affordability.