Filament wound plastics article of non-circular cross section - by winding blank of circular cross section and deforming it during moulding

摘要

A hollow filament woulnd resin article of non-circular cross-section is made by forming an inflatable mandrel comprising a sheath held between a pair of circular end plates, inflating the mandrel to a cylindrical configuration, helically winding resin impregnated filaments at angles of 0-90 degrees onto the inflated mandrel, removing the end plates to deflate the mandrel, locating the deflated mandrel in a mould of the desired configuration, and finally reinflating the mandrel to press the filament/resin coating into contact with the mould and heating the mould to effect a cure. The sheat may or may not be retained in the finished article High strength articles of non-circular construction, such as helicopter blades and aerofoils, can be relatively easily madE.