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EP-4741141-A1 - METHOD OF FORMING A COMPOSITE PREFORM

EP4741141A1EP 4741141 A1EP4741141 A1EP 4741141A1EP-4741141-A1

Abstract

A method of forming a composite preform includes transforming a composite blank material into the composite preform via a two-stage process. The composite blank material is disposed between first and second membranes during a first stage. The first membrane and the second membrane are disposed across first and second mold bodies in the first stage. A vacuum is activated to expel a gaseous fluid out of a space between the first membrane and the first mold body and the second mold body to form a first radius of the composite blank material during the first stage. A third membrane is disposed at least partially over the composite blank material during a second stage. The vacuum is activated to expel a gaseous fluid out of an area between the third membrane and the first mold body to form a second radius of the composite blank material during the second stage.

Inventors

  • SERENCSITS, William Louis
  • PETERS, BRIAN TIMOTHY
  • DAVIS, DAWN
  • LAI, KARLGREN KA-TSUN
  • SCARFE, MANNING JAMES

Assignees

  • The Boeing Company

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251112

Claims (15)

  1. A method of forming a composite preform (10), the method comprising: transforming a composite blank material (16) into the composite preform (10) via a two-stage process, which comprises: connecting together a first mold body (12) and a second mold body (14) for a first stage, wherein the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) cooperate to transform a composite blank material (16) into the composite preform (10) having a first radius (22); disposing the composite blank material (16) between a first membrane (26) and a second membrane (28) during the first stage, wherein the first membrane (26) and the second membrane (28) are disposed across the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) in the first stage; activating a vacuum (34) to expel a gaseous fluid out of a space (36) between the first membrane (26) and the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) to cause the composite blank material (16) to form a first radius (22) during the first stage; removing the second membrane (28) at the end of the first stage; disconnecting the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) from each other for a second stage, wherein the first mold body (12) transform the composite blank material (16) into the composite preform (10) having a second radius (24); disposing a third membrane (50) at least partially over the composite blank material (16) during the second stage; and activating the vacuum (34) to expel a gaseous fluid out of an area (66) between the third membrane (50) and the first mold body (12) to cause the composite blank material (16) to form the second radius (24) during the second stage, wherein the second stage occurs after the first stage.
  2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: activating a first zone (46) of a heater (44) to heat the composite blank material (16) to set a profile of the first radius (22) during the first stage; and activating a second zone (48) of the heater (44) to heat the composite blank material (16) to set a profile of the second radius (24) during the second stage, wherein the first zone (46) and the second zone (48) are different from each other.
  3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the heater (44) is incorporated into the first mold body (12), and further comprising activating the first zone (46) of the heater (44) and activating the second zone (48) of the heater (44) during the second stage.
  4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first mold body (12) includes a first sealing surface (30) and the second mold body (14) includes a second sealing surface (32), and the first mold body (12) includes a first contour profile (18), wherein the first contour profile (18) is disposed between the first sealing surface (30) and the second sealing surface (32), and the method further comprising: disposing the first membrane (26) across the first sealing surface (30) and the second sealing surface (32) such that the first membrane (26) overlaps the first contour profile (18); disposing the composite blank material (16) on the first membrane (26); and disposing the second membrane (28) over the composite blank material (16) and abut the first membrane (26) beyond the composite blank material (16) to contain the composite blank material (16) therebetween.
  5. The method according to claim 4, wherein activating the vacuum (34) to expel the gaseous fluid out of the space (36) between the first membrane (26) and the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) further comprises: continuing to expel the gaseous fluid out of the space (36) until a predetermined elongation of the second membrane (28) is reached, at which time expelling the gaseous fluid is stopped via the vacuum (34), and the vacuum (34) holds a predetermined vacuum level to the first membrane (26) and the second membrane (28) to form the first radius (22) over the first contour profile (18).
  6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising heating, via a heater (44), at least part of the composite blank material (16) around the first radius (22) to a predetermined temperature while the predetermined vacuum level is held on the first membrane (26) and the second membrane (28) to set a profile of the first radius (22) during the first stage to partially form the composite preform (10).
  7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: cooling the first radius (22) after heating the first radius (22) to the predetermined temperature to partially form the composite preform (10); releasing the predetermined vacuum level after cooling the first radius (22); and removing the second membrane (28) after releasing the predetermined vacuum level at the end of the first stage.
  8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein: disconnecting the first mold body (12) and the second mold body (14) from each other occurs while maintaining the partially formed composite preform (10) on the first mold body (12); and further comprising attaching a secondary sealing surface (54) to the first mold body (12), wherein the secondary sealing surface (54) presents a flat configuration.
  9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first mold body (12) includes a third sealing surface (56), wherein the first mold body (12) includes a second contour profile (20) spaced from the first contour profile (18), and the method further comprising: disposing the third membrane (50) across the secondary sealing surface (54) and the third sealing surface (56) of the first mold body (12) and partially over the composite blank material (16) such that the third membrane (50) overlaps the second contour profile (20) to contain the composite blank material (16).
  10. The method according to claim 9, wherein activating the vacuum (34) to expel the gaseous fluid out of the area (66) between the third membrane (50) and the first mold body (12) further comprises: continuing to expel the gaseous fluid out of the area (66) until a predetermined elongation of the third membrane (50) is reached, at which time expelling the gaseous fluid is stopped via the vacuum (34), and the vacuum (34) holds a predetermined vacuum level to the third membrane (50) to form the second radius (24) over the second contour profile (20).
  11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising heating, via the heater (44), at least part of the composite blank material (16) around the second radius (24) to a predetermined temperature while the predetermined vacuum level is held on the third membrane (50) to set a profile of the second radius (24) during the second stage.
  12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein disposing the composite blank material (16) between the first membrane (26) and the second membrane (28) further comprises: disposing the composite blank material (16) on the first membrane (26); and disposing the second membrane (28) over the composite blank material (16) and abut the first membrane (26) beyond the composite blank material (16) to contain the composite blank material (16) therebetween.
  13. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: trimming the first membrane (26) after removing the second membrane (28).
  14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: disposing the third membrane (50) across the secondary sealing surface (54) of the first mold body (12) and partially over the composite blank material (16) and partially over the trimmed first membrane (26) to contain the composite blank material (16).
  15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: cooling the first radius (22) and the second radius (24) after heating to the predetermined temperature to complete the forming of the composite preform (10); releasing the predetermined vacuum level after cooling the first radius (22) and the second radius (24); and remove the completed composite preform (10) from the first mold body (12).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE This Patent Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/719216, filed on November 12, 2024, and entitled "METHOD OF FORMING A COMPOSITE PREFORM." BACKGROUND Current forming processes for composite materials may utilize deformable membranes and a vacuum to form a full stack of material at once. To form complex configurations using composite materials, some composite materials have small segments of fiber material that are hand laid such that the fiber direction does not deviate from a set standard amount. This process may be time consuming. Furthermore, due to the complex geometry to be achieved during the forming process, the deformable membranes may not be able to elongate to the required length. SUMMARY Therefore, it is desirable to develop a method that improves manufacturing processes of forming a composite preform, and other benefits are discussed herein. The present disclosure provides a method of forming a composite preform according to the appended independent claim 1. The detailed description and the drawings or FIGS. are supportive and descriptive of the disclosure, but the claim scope of the disclosure is defined solely by the claims. While some of the best modes and other configurations for carrying out the claims have been described in detail, various alternative designs and configurations exist for practicing the disclosure defined in the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of tooling including a mold having a first mold body and a second mold body attached to each other.FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the first mold body and the second mold body separated from each other.FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a composite blank material disposed inside of a first membrane and a second membrane during a first stage of the forming process.FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the first mold body illustrating a heater in a different pattern.FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a third membrane positioned relative to the first mold body for a second stage.FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the third membrane positioned relative to the first mold body from an opposite side as compared to FIG. 5.FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of an edge of the third membrane folded over a secondary forming body of the first mold body for the second stage.FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of an edge of the third membrane folded over a secondary forming body of the first mold body for another configuration for the second stage.FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the first mold body having the secondary forming body in a different orientation as compared to FIGS. 5-8.FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the second stage before activating a vacuum.FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the second stage after activating the vacuum. The present disclosure may be extended to modifications and alternative forms, with representative configurations shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail below. Inventive aspects of the disclosure are not limited to the disclosed configurations. Rather, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications, equivalents, combinations, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that all directional references (e.g., above, below, upward, up, downward, down, top, bottom, left, right, vertical, horizontal, etc.) are used descriptively for the FIGS. to aid the reader's understanding, and do not represent limitations (for example, to the position, orientation, or use, etc.) on the scope of the disclosure, as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, terms such as "first," "second," "third," and so on, may be used to describe separate components. Such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import. Furthermore, the term "substantially" can refer to a slight imprecision or slight variance of a condition, quantity, value, or dimension, etc., some of which are within manufacturing variance or tolerance ranges. As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and preceded by the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not necessarily excluding the plural of the elements or steps. That is, "a", "an", "the", "at least one", and "one or more" are used interchangeably to indicate that at least one of the items is present and more than one may be present, unless stated otherwise. Further, any reference to "one configuration" is not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional configurations that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, configurations "comprising" or "having" an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may includ