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 team that is better at blocking and tackling is going to win the game. While developing plays and making correct strategic decisions are important, if the team can’t run the ball or make a tackle, they are not going to win. These basic but essential factors are vital to creating the foundation of success.

In tool design for composite manufacturing, fundamentals such as compensating for bulk/scale factor, or vacuum bagging techniques are often overlooked but are vital factors. Likewise, in processing composites, the various factors that all lead to quality parts like cure cycle, breathing strategy, etc. all need to be considered during the design stage. All of these small factors that should be taken into account during the design phase of the project can add up to mean the pass or fail of the final composite part.

Using a case study of a composite co-cured integrated control surface, we’ll dive deep into the core fundamentals that make such an intricate part possible. Our learning objectives are to understand and apply bulk scale factors, advanced vacuum-bagging techniques, cure cycle optimization & design, sequencing & structural design, and apply these concepts for complex real-world problems.