AUTOMATED TAPE PLACEMENT WITH IN-SITU ELECTRON BEAM CURE

摘要

Automated Tape Placement (ATP) is widely used in the aerospace industry to produce large composite structures with complex geometry. An innovative process combining ATP with in-situ electron beam (EB) curing has the potential to decrease composite part costs, especially for large integrated structures. A group consisting of Science Research Laboratory, Applied Poleramics and Northrop-Grumman is currently developing resins, tape and electron gun technology for in-situ curing of ATP composites [1]. This paper presents mechanical and thermal properties for composite panels fabricated using a simulated in-situ EB cure process, with comparison to panels cured in a single step EB process. We also present design tradeoffs for in-situ EB curing systems and describe how the choice of processing geometry affects the design. SRL is fabricating an in-situ EB curing system based on these designs. The portable robotic EB gun will be combined with an existing ATP head for demonstration of the in-situ curing process next year.