Why Out of Autoclave? Moving the cure cycle out of an autoclave to a standard oven has a lot of benefits, including reducing capital & operating expenses, as well as saving manufacturing space. How It Works with Smart Tools 1 | Tool Assembly & Closure To begin, the Smart Tool with lay up is placed into the bottom of the …
WEBINAR | Tool Design For Complex Composite Manufacturing
Have you ever got to the end of a first-article part and realized something is wrong. You look back and find a little mistake during the design/processing phase. You realize your team got wrapped up in the big picture and forgot about the details. Think about a football game. When you boil it down to its most basic level, the …
Alternative to Washout Tooling | Non-Structural Duct Case Study
PROBLEM – Fabricate a non-structural duct in a quick, clean, and efficient process without an autoclave or washout tooling. OPPORTUNITY – Create an oven cure solution that will produce a high-quality composite duct with a reusable Smart Tool. SOLUTION – A Smart Tool that acts as a bladder during cure was combined with a OML cure mold to create an …
Composite Mandrel Inlet Duct Demonstration
Watch a demonstration of a Smart Tool that acts as a mandrel to create a sub-scale composite inlet duct with trapped geometry. Because Smart Tools are rigid at layup, but elastic for extraction, material can be laid up directly onto the Smart Tool, and can be demolded from trapped geometry parts. WATCH ON YOUTUBE Smart Tooling provides formable, reusable composite …
Composite Bladder Tube Demonstration
Watch a demonstration of a Smart Tool that acts as a bladder create a tube-shaped composite part, with an interior fastener build-up and trapped geometry. Because Smart Tools are rigid at layup, but elastic for extraction, material can be laid up directly onto the Smart Tool, and can be demolded from trapped geometry parts. WATCH ON YOUTUBE Smart Tooling provides …
Trapped Geometry Demolding – Benefits of Smart Tooling
One of the major benefits of Smart Tooling is the ability to demold from trapped geometry. In the video below, we demonstrate how Smart Tools that act as Bladders are rigid during cure, and elastic at extraction. This elasticity allows the Smart Tool to be extracted from a composite part with complex or trapped geometry. Once extracted, the Smart Tool …
Trailing Edge Control Surface WITHOUT The Use of Foam
Smart Tooling uses exclusive shape memory polymer tooling technology to produce a composite multi-chamber trailing edge control surface with co-cured spars without the use of foam core. Traditionally, a composite trailing edge control surface required the use of foam fabricated to a knifepoint to mold the trailing edge because traditional tooling methods could not mold composite with such small, and …
Smart Tools That Act As Mandrels
Learn more about Smart Tools that act as Mandrels in this core product overview. Smart Tools that act as Mandrels are a formable, reusable tooling solution for manufacturing composite parts with complex geometries that improve quality, reduce labor hours, decrease consumables, and increase throughput. THE PROCESS LAYUP – Composite can be laid-up by hand or automated equipment onto rigid Smart …
Smart Tools That Act As Cauls
Learn more about Smart Tools that act as Cauls in this core product overview. Smart Tools that act as Cauls are a formable, reusable tooling solution for manufacturing composite parts with complex geometries that improve quality, reduce labor hours, decrease consumables, and increase throughput. THE PROCESS LAYUP – Composite can be laid-up by hand or automated equipment onto rigid Smart …
Smart Tools That Act As Bladders
Learn more about Smart Tools that act as Bladders in this core product overview. Smart Tools that act as Bladders are a formable, reusable tooling solution for manufacturing composite parts with complex geometries that improve quality, reduce labor hours, decrease consumables, and increase throughput. THE PROCESS LAYUP – Composite can be laid-up by hand or automated equipment onto rigid Smart …