An open mold for producing components made of a moldable material such as layered composite materials is made from an additive manufacturing technology. The mold includes at least two compatible mold segments which precisely interlock with and abut against each other. The mold thereby made may be larger than the limited printing area of an additive manufacturing machine.

An open mold for producing components made of a moldable material such as layered composite materials is made from an additive manufacturing technology. The mold includes at least two compatible mold segments which precisely interlock with and abut against each other. The mold thereby made may be larger than the limited printing area of an additive manufacturing machine.

Methods of forming a curvature into a composite stiffener and a forming tool are presented. The composite stiffener is positioned in a forming region created by a base assembly and an upper assembly. A first airflow is applied through the material of the base assembly. A second airflow is applied through the material of the upper assembly. A plurality of brackets of the upper assembly is moved relative to each other to change a curvature of the forming region along a length of the forming region to form the curvature into the composite stiffener.

Disclosed herein is a die for forming a part. The die comprises a base, comprising a heat-platen interface surface and a part interface surface, and wherein the heat-platen interface surface and the part interface surface are separated by a thickness of the base. The die also comprises inserts, embedded within and circumferentially closed by the base, spaced apart from each other, and extending in a first direction from the heat-platen interface surface toward the part interface surface. The base is made of a first material having a first thermal conductivity. The inserts are made of a second material having a second thermal conductivity. The first thermal conductivity is different than the second thermal conductivity.

An optical element includes a Fresnel surface including valleys between Fresnel segments. Compensation trenches disposed in the valleys are configured to accept excess of an optical layer received in the valleys during a deposition of the optical layer. The compensation trenches are filled with the optical layer.

A mold for use in molding a surface of a component is formed from separate building blocks that are assembled together so that mold surface segments associated with each of the building blocks line up to form one contiguous mold surface that corresponds with the shape of the mold. The building blocks can be formed to have integral formations for connecting them together. The building blocks can be formed by modeling the contiguous mold surface, dividing this first mold model into sections which define discrete building block models, and then forming each building block separately based on the discrete building block models. For instance, the individual block models can be assigned to different additive manufacturing machines and then later be assembled together at a final location.

A fiber reinforced composite member molding apparatus includes a pair of molds for clamping prepreg formed of long carbon fibers impregnated with resin, induction heating coils for heating thermoplastic resin contained in the prepreg via the molds, and cooling passages for cooling the resin via the molds after the resin is melted, wherein the molds each have a design surface brought into contact with the layered prereg, the design surface being divided into a plurality of regions, and a plurality of cells provided along the design surface to be open at the back of the design surface and individually correspond to the regions of the design surface, the induction heating coils are arranged in the cells, and the cooling passages are formed in each of the molds to run along the design surface.

A soft lithography template or stamp is made by casting a polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) or other suitable elastomeric precursor onto a master pattern. The master pattern may be formed utilizing known micro-fabrication techniques. The PDMS template includes an inverse copy of the micro-structures on the master pattern, and can be placed into a mold used to prepare a carbon-fiber reinforced polymer composite part or other polymer molding systems where a matrix material passes through a fluid state during the cure process. The liquid resin material flows into the structures on the surface of the PDMS template and hardens during the curing cycle. After the part is released from the mold, the PDMS template can be peeled from the surface of the part to reveal the free standing micro structures which are a replica of the master pattern.

A set (1) of moulding elements intended to be added to a mould comprise a main moulding element (10) and a secondary moulding element (20) comprising an edge (21), said main moulding element (10) comprising a contact zone (11) adapted to be in contact with all or part of the edge (21) of the secondary element, said contact zone (11) not being flat, and the edge (21) of said secondary moulding element (20) comprising at least one recessed portion (22) complementary to the non-flat contact zone (11) of the main element.

Disclosed herein is a die for forming a part. The die comprises a base, comprising a heat-platen interface surface and a part interface surface, and wherein the heat-platen interface surface and the part interface surface are separated by a thickness of the base. The die also comprises inserts, embedded within and circumferentially closed by the base, spaced apart from each other, and extending in a first direction from the heat-platen interface surface toward the part interface surface. The base is made of a first material having a first thermal conductivity. The inserts are made of a second material having a second thermal conductivity. The first thermal conductivity is different than the second thermal conductivity.