A system and method for the manufacture of wind turbine blade moulds and wind turbine blade mould plugs is described. The method comprises dividing a blade mould geometry (70) or plug geometry into separate geometrical slices or segments. The separate slices can then be used to control a cutting of blank elements (78) to form separate cut surfaces (82). The cut surfaces are used to form a consolidated wind turbine mould surface.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a composite construction element using a mould fabricated by a computer-controlled apparatus. The method comprises the steps of fabricating the mould having one or more receiving portions dimensioned to receive one or more respective objects responsive to computer instructions relating to the mould geometry, positioning the one or more objects in respective receiving portions, covering at least a portion of the mould and the one or more objects with settable material, and at least partially curing the settable material, thereby forming the composite construction element having the one or more objects embedded therein.

Disclosed is a stamp (14) for an imprint lithography process, the stamp comprising an elastomer stamp body including a polysiloxane bulk portion (110) and a patterned surface comprising a feature pattern (16) for imprinting an imprinting composition (12) wherein the elastomer stamp body comprises a basic organic amine in an amount of at least 0.1% by weight based on the total weight of the elastomer stamp body. Also disclosed are methods of manufacturing such a stamp, and a method of forming a patterned layer on a substrate using such a stamp.

A blow mold for PET bottles has the inner surface which contacts the hot PET during the blowing operation, coated with a layer of ceramic material having a nanometric thickness, of which at least one thickness layer is AI.sub.2O.sub.3 and/or TiO2 deposited by ALD technique. Due to this technique, the PET preforms are subject to less friction during the contact with the interior of the mold.

Disclosed herein is a method of forming a structure, comprising forming a mandrel layer over a substrate, masking the mandrel layer with a first mask and performing a first etch on the mandrel layer, the first etch forming a first opening exposing a first portion of the substrate. The mandrel layer is masked with a second mask and a second etch is performed on the mandrel layer. The second etch forms a second opening exposing a second portion of the substrate, and also forms a protective layer on the first portion of the substrate and in the first opening.

Systems and methods are provided for enhancement of vacuum bagging processes for a composite part. One system includes dispensers configured to dispense materials onto a forming tool for a composite part, and a controller. The controller is able to identify a selected location for placing the composite part on the tool, to direct the dispensers to apply a mold release agent onto the tool based on the selected location, to apply a sealant onto the tool proximate to the selected location, to lay up a ply of constituent material for the composite part atop the mold release agent at the selected location, to apply a pressure pad material atop the constituent material, to apply a breather material atop the pressure pad, and to apply vacuum bag material atop the ply proximate to the selected location to cover the ply as well as the sealant.

The present disclosure provides various aspects for mobile and automated processing utilizing additive manufacturing and the methods for their utilization and for making material dispensing element arrays for use of the additive manufacturing device.

The disclosure provides a process for manufacturing a tread molding element configured to mold at least a portion of a tire tread, the process comprising the steps of modeling a three-dimensional shape of a tread molding element through a modeling program that can be recognized by a 3D printer; providing one or more plastic compositions comprising one or more thermoplastic polymers having a melting point of at least 180° C.; forming a tread molding element by 3D printing from the one or more plastic compositions; and optionally annealing the tread molding element.

A hybrid mold includes (a) an Invar® eggcrate structure, (b) an Invar® interim working surface and (c) a CF composite material overlay. The eggcrate and interim working surface are welded or otherwise connected together to form a unitary base mold. The CF overlay is bonded to the interim working surface. The CF overlay is easily reconfigurable and can be replaced without destroying the integrity of the base mold.

Molds are produced by additive manufacturing and define parts cavities with part infills that can be ribbed or cellular. The molds are processed to sequentially remove infills to open part cavities to which part materials are introduced. Embedded or captured parts can be molded, and thermal channels can be provided to thermally isolate different materials.