DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED TAPE PLACEMENT FOR OUT OF AUTOCLAVE COMPOSITES

摘要

Boeing and HITCO Carbon Composites teamed to develop automated manufacturing technology using out-of-autoclave (OOA) materials. Processing requirements were established for Advanced Tape Placement (ATP) of Cytec's Cycom? 5320 out of autoclave material system. Initially, Cytec provided material with varying degrees of resin impregnation for evaluation. The preferred material was then used to tape place small panels to determine the impact of overlaps/gaps and verify the ability to achieve voids and porosity of < 1%. OOA processing parameters were evaluated, which included debulk, edge breathing, and vacuum hold times. Using the optimized processing parameters, large panels with complex curvature were tape placed to address manufacturing scale-up. Large panel testing included non-destructive evaluation, photomicrograph examination, and resin/void content determination. The product form was harmonized for ATP and acceptable porosity levels were achieved.