Thermal Process Simulation, Risk Assessment, Optimization, & Guidance Tools for Low Convection Applications

The increasing desire to move away from autoclave production has prompted manufacturing processes with unique challenges. Industry has looked to out-of-autoclave (OOA) materials as cost effective alternatives to traditional high performance carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). Some applications may not permit the use of autoclaves or ovens due to size or volume constraints. Additionally, of particular interest are processes involving secondary or co-bonded manufacturing steps that utilize alternative heating techniques such as heat blankets such as a bonded pi-joints. These processes can have difficulty meeting thermal requirements due to the sensitivity and variability in the environment. The direct to Phase II+ program continues the research and development efforts matured under previous work and extends the simulation capabilities to include visualization of risk and uncertainty based on this variation by extending the prototype simulation tools and workflow previously developed for composite repair processes. Tools and techniques developed for repair were limited to constant thickness skin of a known material and thickness, a single zone heat blanket, low in-plane heat transfer, and simple geometries. Production requires consistent processes that produce repeatable high-quality parts. This development effort will evolve and expand the previously developed simulation tools and workflow to reduce these limitations, incorporate variation and uncertainty, and develop pragmatic guidance on achieving robust process conditions. The final product is envisioned as a workflow-based tool for M&P engineers to assess process robustness.