Within the US Navy, composite structures range from seat brackets to entire aircraft. Whether the composite structure is a cruise missile, a UAV or an entire aircraft, each is equally important. However, the DoDs performance and response time is suffering because current manufacturing technologies cannot produce these parts and assemblies quickly. In addition, conventional methods of processing composite components are costly. Temper Inc. (Temper) proposes apply its smart susceptor technology to solve this problem. The technology has been developed specifically for the fabrication of components and assembling in high volume aerospace production. Applications of the Smart Susceptor technology include co-bonding and co-curing for traditional thermoset composites and co-consolidation and welding for thermoplastic composites. In addition, Temper will be focusing on certifying these manufacturing processes to aircraft standards and develop performance standards comparing the Smart Susceptor approach to traditional fabrication methods by generating test data for incorporation into FEA and design modeling software. Assemblies are comprised of individual parts, that are assembled. Temper seeks to incorporate four different fabrication methods that would be used in unison or piecemeal, in producing a structural assembly 15 ft x 6 ft x 6 ft with the goal in mind of a final assembly size of 40 ft x 6 ft x 6 ft. Those fabrication methods are a small part component fabrication method, a large part component fabrication method, a co-consolidation method and a welding method.
Benefit: Aerospace industry needs the smart susceptor technology if it is to achieve rapid part fabrication, in minutes vs hours with conventional methods. This effort along with efforts by the US Air Force, and US ARMY, will further develop the technology and will enable and promote use in manufacturing, from VTOLS, to drones, to automotive manufacturing.
Keywords: processing, processing, welding, Thermoplastic, aerospace certification, Smart Susceptor, large part, assembly, rapid
