Methods of recovering and/or recycling expanded polymer tooling, the methods including collecting expanded polymer tooling, reducing the collected expanded polymer tooling into smaller particles, treating the reduced expanded polymer tooling in order to yield an at least partially purified recovered polymer composition, and then collecting the at least partially purified recovered polymer composition. The at least partially purified recovered polymer composition can then be used to form new expandable polymer tooling.

A device for moulding at least one bladed part of a turbine engine, including a base; a mould formed from a plurality of parts nested inside one another, this mould being applied to the base. A first seal is mounted between the mould and the base; and a bell is mounted on the mould and around the mould, this bell being applied to the base. A second seal is mounted between the bell and the base, this bell being configured to be held tight against the base and having interior surfaces engaging by wedge effect with complementary exterior surfaces of the mould in order to apply a clamping force on the parts of this mould.

Methods and systems for consolidating an additively manufactured piece. In one embodiment, methods include the step of combining the additively manufactured piece with another piece, for example with another additively manufactured piece or with a piece that is not additively manufactured (e.g. an insert, foam, etc.), so that during a consolidation step, those pieces are assembled or connected together.

A shim for a compression mold for manufacturing a component from reinforced plastic, typically from SMC, comprising a fixed molding element, a mobile molding element, and a mobile shim that can be moved by an actuator. The mobile shim comprises a conventional part made of steel but also a part made of a high expansion material with a mean coefficient of expansion that is high enough that its own expansion at the molding temperature places the shim in compression against the molding element and seals against this element, thus eliminating flash on the molded part. This material is advantageously a polyetheretherketone, or PEEK. A mold comprising this shim and a compression molding method are also disclosed.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced plastic molded body, the method including: performing thermocompression molding, by using a molding die, on a molding precursor which is obtained by arranging a prepreg including a thermosetting resin and a fiber around a thermoplastic solid body.

Lightweight and strong components having any desired shape, form, or geometry may be manufactured using thermally expanding mandrels by the processes described herein. A thermally expanding mandrel may be formed from an expanding material composition including thermally expanding particles, e.g., micronized rubber particles, and water-soluble binder material, e.g., gypsum plaster. Component material may be applied to the mandrel, and the mandrel may be inserted into a molding tool. Upon application of heat to the mandrel, the mandrel may expand, and compress and cure the component material into a component within the molding tool. Following formation of the component, the mandrel may be washed out of the component, e.g., using pressurized water, and the expanding material composition may be recycled and/or reused.

A mold core for producing a component of fiber composite material with a cavity makes a particularly simple and efficient demolding process possible by the mold core extending along a longitudinal axis and in the form of a hybrid core and which includes, viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a first core portion and a second core portion, wherein the first core portion has a thickness that is substantially greater than a thickness of the second core portion. The first core portion is formed from a first material with high stiffness and low coefficient of thermal expansion, and the second core portion is formed from a second material that differs from the first material, and is configured such that, under predetermined conditions, its form changes in a predetermined manner such that removal of the mold core from a cavity in the cured component is made easier.

A method is specified for producing a structural component, in particular for an aircraft, ground vehicle, or watercraft, or for a rotor blade of a wind turbine, in which method an arrangement of fibers and plastic material is laid in a mold and subjected to an increased pressure and an increased temperature, wherein a mold is used which comprises at least one recess in which a reinforcing element is arranged. The object is to be able to cost-effectively produce a structural component of this type. For this purpose, it is provided that the reinforcing element is laid in the recess together with a core, wherein a differential volume between the recess and core, at least in a predetermined region, is chosen such that it is smaller than a segment of the reinforcing element arranged in said region by a predetermined amount.

A device for shaping a workpiece is provided. The device includes at least one first and one second component between which the workpiece to be shaped can be molded under the effect of heat. The design and/or the material properties of the first and/or the second component are selected such that the component's thermal expansion is different in different directions.

The present invention is related to a method and an apparatus for curing a polymeric form. The method includes arranging an uncured polymeric form within a curing chamber (60) formed by a base member (20) and a constraining member (40). A thermal expansion member (30) is additionally positioned within the curing chamber (60) with the uncured polymeric form (70) such that the thermal expansion member and the uncured polymeric form are positioned between the base member (20) and the constraining member (40). The thermal expansion member (30) is heated to expand in size into an expanded state. In the expanded state the thermal expansion member (30) applies pressure to the uncured polymeric form (70) within the curing chamber. The expansion of the thermal expansion member (30) is maintained to maintain the application of pressure to the uncured polymeric form while the uncured polymeric form is being cured to form a cured polymeric form.