Carbon Nanotube Heated Composite Tooling for High-Temperature Processing of Thermosetting and Thermoplastic Composites

This proposal outlines Mainstream’s and Colorado State University’s (CSU) approach to fabricating a large-scale composite tool capable of curing composites out-of-autoclave (OOA). The use of autoclaves is the primary cost driver in composite manufacturing due to size limitations, long processing times, and inefficient energy usage. Therefore, the Navy is looking to develop a nanostructured heater that can efficiently cure aerospace grade composites OOA without compromising quality. During the Phase I, Mainstream and CSU demonstrated a carbon nanotube-based heater that is capable of curing composites to autoclave quality while minimizing costs. The heater was mechanically robust, reusable, and able to cure components with minimal energy usage. In the Phase II, Mainstream will work to apply our technology to complex geometry parts and scale the tooling in size. The scaled-up, complex geometry tooling will be used to cure composites OOA which will be compared to conventionally cured composites for mechanical strength, degree of cure, porosity and fiber volume fraction. The processing developed during Phase I is straightforward, allowing us to focus on scaling-up early in the project. At the conclusion of Phase II, Mainstream will fabricate a 10’ long MQ-4C Triton leading edge tooling. CSU will use this tool to cure composite