An engine block assembly includes a head structure assembly, and a cylinder structure assembly. A plurality of fasteners interconnect the head structure assembly and the cylinder structure assembly. An outer shell encapsulates and supports both the head structure assembly and the cylinder structure assembly. The outer shell is a unitary polymer structure that is simultaneously over-molded onto the head structure assembly and the cylinder structure assembly. The head structure assembly and the cylinder structure assembly are constructed of components that are designed to carry the operational loads of the engine with minimal weight. The outer shell provides additional structural integrity, and provides fluid passages for lubrication and cooling, as well as support for other engine components.

a method for producing a sandwich component, and an apparatus for producing a sandwich component. The method includes providing a plurality of webs of material, applying at least one matrix material to an upper side and/or an underside of at least one of the webs of material, wherein applying the at least one matrix material includes applying the at least one matrix material such in different ways to create at least one zone of the sandwich component having mechanical properties that differ from mechanical properties of other parts of the sandwich component, arranging at least one core layer on one of the webs of material, and pressing the webs of material and the at least one core layer to form the sandwich component such that the core layer is arranged between at least two of the webs of material.

a method for producing a sandwich component, and an apparatus for producing a sandwich component. The method includes providing a plurality of webs of material, applying at least one matrix material to an upper side and/or an underside of at least one of the webs of material, wherein applying the at least one matrix material includes applying the at least one matrix material such in different ways to create at least one zone of the sandwich component having mechanical properties that differ from mechanical properties of other parts of the sandwich component, arranging at least one core layer on one of the webs of material, and pressing the webs of material and the at least one core layer to form the sandwich component such that the core layer is arranged between at least two of the webs of material.

A resin-infusion system for manufacture of a composite part includes an inflatable rigid bladder defining at least one infusion-flow medium and a preform lay-up formed on the bladder such that the infusion-flow medium defines space between the bladder and preform lay-up. The system also includes a mold into which the bladder and preform lay-up are placed such that the preform lay-up is constrained against the mold a resin injection system configured to feed resin into and to flow along the infusion-flow medium and then be infused into the preform lay-up. The bladder is configured to expand against the infused preform lay-up during curing such that the infusion-flow medium is smoothed resulting in a smooth surface of the finished part.

This pultrusion material that is a composite material member comprises: a plurality of fiber sheets that extend along a lengthwise direction; and a gap material that is provided to a gap formed by the plurality of fiber sheets, wherein the gap material has a gap fiber sheet including reinforcement fibers that are oriented in a different fiber direction than the lengthwise direction, and has gap reinforcement fibers that are oriented in the same fiber direction as the lengthwise direction. Additionally, the gap reinforcement fibers are provided evenly distributed in a cross-section of the gap material, said cross-section being perpendicular to the lengthwise direction.

A method of manufacturing a component with at least one embedded feature includes the steps of defining a boundary template for the component, reserving a functional region within the boundary template for the at least one embedded feature, consolidating and structurally optimizing the component to allow more efficient distribution of material and manufacturing the component using additive manufacturing techniques. A motor vehicle component including a motor vehicle center console are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a strap including, providing a mould for a strap, the strap comprising a first opening, inserting a first component into said mould, arresting said first component with respect to said mould, such that said first component is proximate said first opening, injecting said mould with a wet applied structural component, wherein said first component comprises a first keying feature which increases the surface area of the first component.

The present invention relates to the use of a single layer fluoropolymer film selected from ethylene tetrafluoroethylene film and polytetrafluoroethylene film as release film in a method for shaping a composite material.

A method for the construction of three-dimensional fibre-reinforced structures from a pre-existing object, where said method comprises the following steps: acquisition of the initial three-dimensional geometry of the pre-existing object and of the relative spatial coordinates of its position with respect to a numerically controlled machine (10) equipped with at least one printhead (12); definition of the path to be followed by the above-mentioned printhead (12) in order to add the desired amount of material to the pre-existing object to obtain a desired final object; deposit of the material on the pre-existing object by means of said printhead (12) by layering the composite material on the pre-existing object according to programmed trajectories, where such programmed trajectories are calculated according to the path that said printhead (12) must follow to add the desired amount of material to the pre-existing object; extraction of the reinforced object after operations are concluded.

A composite of metal and carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic according to the present invention comprising a predetermined metal member, a resin layer positioned at a surface of at least part of the metal member and containing an inorganic filler having a thermal conductivity of 20 W/(m.Math.K) or more, and carbon fiber reinforced plastic positioned on the resin layer and containing a predetermined matrix resin and carbon reinforcing fiber present in the matrix resin, the carbon reinforcing fiber being at least one of pitch-based carbon reinforcing fiber having a thermal conductivity of 180 to 900 W/(m.Math.K) in range or PAN-based carbon reinforcing fiber having a thermal conductivity of 100 to 200 W/(m.Math.K) in range, a content of the inorganic filler in the resin layer being 10 to 45 vol % in range with respect to a total volume of the resin layer, a number density of the inorganic filler present in a region of a width X ?m from an interface of the resin layer and the carbon fiber reinforced plastic in a direction of the resin layer being 300/mm.sup.2 or more, where X ?m is an average particle size of the inorganic filler.