DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF A REPRESENTATIVE THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE PRIMARY AEROSPACE STRUCTURE

摘要

The use of high performance thermoplastic composite structures in aerospace has seen a greatincrease in the past decade. Thermoplastic composites present many advantages over thermosetcomposites in terms of processing and performance, such as high toughness, high temperatureperformance, chemical resistance and low flammability. However, compared to thermosetmatrices, the lack of material database and the limited knowledge available in the open literatureregarding the manufacturing techniques have restrained their use to a relatively small number ofcomposite structural applications. In this study, the design and the autoclave manufacturing of aPEEK/carbon hat-stiffened panel representative of an aerospace primary structure wereinvestigated. Design and mechanical performances, including strength and stability issues, werefirst evaluated with finite element analysis and analytical methods. Process simulations were alsoperformed to define the tooling material and geometry to be used, based on the evolution of thethermo-mechanical material properties during the autoclave process. For the manufacturing part,the stringers were first pre-shaped and consolidated in a press and then re-consolidated to thepanel skin in the autoclave. The data gained from the manufacturing was used to validate theprocess simulation and the panel design. This project showed the autoclave process capability formanufacturing large, integrated and complex thermoplastic composite structures.