A mold assembly for manufacturing a composite part with a stiffener, the mold assembly includes a bottom mold configured to form a first surface of the composite part, wherein the bottom mold has at least one elongated recess configured to form a stiffener in the composite part; a feeder unit having a shape corresponding to the at least one elongated recess, wherein the feeder unit is configured to fit at least partially into the at least one elongated recess; and a top mold configured to form a second surface of the composite part opposite to the first surface. Also a method of manufacturing a composite part using such a mold assembly, which includes draping a flat laminate over the bottom mold and pushing portions of the laminate into the at least one elongated recess.

A reinforcing structure for a wind turbine blade is in the form of an elongate stack of layers of pultruded fibrous composite strips supported within a U-shaped channel. The length of each layer is slightly different to create a taper at the ends of the stack; the centre of the stack has five layers, and each end has a single layer. The ends of each layer are chamfered, and the stack is coated with a thin flexible pultruded fibrous composite strip extending the full length of the stack. The reinforcing structure extends along a curved path within the outer shell of the blade. The regions of the outer shell of the blade on either side of the reinforcing structure are filled with structural foam, and the reinforcing structure and the foam are both sandwiched between an inner skin and an outer skin.

An aerostructure is provided. The aerostructure may comprise an airfoil extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge, the airfoil comprising a stiffness and a camber, and a shape memory alloy (SMA) mechanically coupled to the airfoil via a resin, the SMA configured to be coupled to a current source, wherein at least one of the stiffness or the camber changes in response to a phase change of the SMA.

A composite sandwich panel comprises a first composite skin, a second composite skin, a hollow cell core between the first composite skin and the second composite skin, and a first over-crush edge region with a first edge. The first edge has a first thickness at least 40% less than a nominal thickness of the composite sandwich panel. The first over-crush edge region has a length of at least 0.25 inches over which a thickness of the composite sandwich panel decreases.

A first stack is formed by stacking a first sheet of metal foil, a first prepreg, and a second sheet of metal foil, one on top of another. The first prepreg is thermally cured by thermally pressing these members to make a double-sided metal-clad laminate. Conductor wiring is formed by partially removing the first sheet of metal foil from the double-sided metal-clad laminate to make a printed wiring board. After a third sheet of metal foil has been preheated, the conductor wiring of the printed wiring board, a second prepreg, and the third sheet of metal foil are stacked one on top of another and thermally pressed together. The first insulating layer has a lower linear expansion coefficient than any of the first sheet of metal foil or the second sheet of metal foil does.

A method of fabricating a formed structure with expandable polymeric shell microspheres. A first plurality of polymeric shell microspheres are heated from an unexpanded state to an expanded state to form a plurality of expanded microspheres. The plurality of expanded microspheres are mixed with an epoxy resin and a second plurality of unexpanded polymeric shell microspheres. The mixture is formed in a shape to create a preform. The preform is wrapped with fiber tape to create a wrapped preform. The wrapped preform is placed in a mold. The mold is heated and the second plurality of unexpanded microspheres expand from an unexpanded state to an expanded state. The mold is cooled and the formed structure is removed from the mold.

An aerostructure is provided. The aerostructure may comprise an airfoil extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge, the airfoil comprising a stiffness and a camber, and a shape memory alloy (SMA) mechanically coupled to the airfoil via a resin, the SMA configured to be coupled to a current source, wherein at least one of the stiffness or the camber changes in response to a phase change of the SMA.

A method is provided for preparing a composite product, the method comprising: forming a core structure having a plurality of layers, each layer being build by an additive manufacturing process; wherein the core structure has a shell substantially enclosing an internal chamber of the core structure, wherein the shell is fluid-impermeable, and wherein the outer surface of the shell has a predefined shape; introducing a fluid into the chamber of the core structure; arranging the core structure and reinforcement fibers in a mould, wherein the mould is arranged to accommodate the core structure including the reinforcement fibers, and wherein the reinforcement fibers and the outer surface of the shell are arranged in contact with each other; providing the reinforcement fibers and a resin on the outer surface of the shell of the core structure; and solidifying the resin to form the composite product inside the mould at a moulding pressure P.sub.m, while controlling the fluid pressure P.sub.F of the fluid in the core structure.

Presented are a method and apparatus for an aircraft flight surface actuation system including a motor having an output shaft. A gearbox is coupled with the output shaft, whereby a first driving force output via the motor is converted to a second driving force. A torque shaft assembly is driveably coupled with the gearbox. The torque shaft assembly includes a first tube, a second tube located at least partially through the first tube and located coaxial therewith, wherein the first tube comprises an axial preload operable to mitigate lateral deflection, and wherein the first tube comprises a torsional preload operable to mitigate torsional deflection. In addition, the aircraft flight surface actuation system includes an eccentric cam mechanism driveably coupled with the torque shaft assembly, and a flight surface coupled with the eccentric cam mechanism.

Compaction systems and methods of compacting components are provided. In one aspect, a laminate of a component can be laid up on a tool of a compaction system. The laminate defines a cavity. A noodle is positioned relative to or in the cavity. A noodle ring is then positioned relative to the noodle. For instance, the noodle ring can be placed over the noodle. A cross section of the noodle ring can be shaped complementary to a cross section of the noodle. A plunger of the compaction system is moved so that it engages the noodle ring. Particularly, the plunger is moved in such a way that a force is applied on the noodle ring so that the noodle ring compacts the noodle into the cavity.