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.
Alternate to Washout Tooling | Non-Structural Duct Case Study
Smart Tools reduce cycle time by 81%, labor cost by 14%, and material cost by 33%, netting a payback of only 7.3 months. If the customer had requested we use a Smart Tool mandrel solution and stayed in the autoclave, the payback would be only 1.7 months.
The dirty, time consuming, and tedious process of washout is eliminated and replaced by the simple and elegant Smart Tooling process.
Case Study: Trailing Edge Control Surface
Traditionally, composite trailing edge control surfaces 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 often times trapped geometry.
Smart Tools That Act as Mandrels Data Sheet
Smart Tools that act as mandrels are manufactured to the inner mold line (IML) geometry of the composite part and are rigid at room temperature. After a release film is applied, composite material can be placed directly onto the Smart Tool.
Smart Tools That Act As Cauls Data Sheet
Smart Tools that act as cauls are manufactured to the composite inner mold line (IML) plus bulk factor oset. Smart Tools are rigid at room temperature to provide a net shape, stable, lay-up surface for operators. After a release film is applied, composite material can be placed directly onto the Smart Tool.
Smart Tools That Act As Bladders Data Sheet
Smart Tools that act as bladders are manufactured to the inside mold line (IML) of the composite part minus bulk factor and are rigid at room temperature. After a release film is applied to the Smart Tool, composite material can be placed directly onto the Smart Tool.
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2