A dry tape material for fiber placement includes a plurality of reinforcing fiber strands that satisfy (i) to (iii): (i) the reinforcing fiber strand has thicknesses T1 and T3 at both ends in a width direction of a section of the reinforcing fiber strand, and both T1 and T3 are 50 to 200% relative to a thickness T2 at a central portion of the reinforcing fiber strand, (ii) the reinforcing fiber strand has a number of filaments N and a width W that satisfy a relationship of 4.8<N/W<12, and (iii) the reinforcing fiber strand has a form kept by a first resin material having a glass transition temperature Tg or a melting point Tm of 40° C. to 200° C., the first resin material being heat-meltable, wherein the plurality of reinforcing fiber strands are bound and integrated with each other by a second resin material.

An insert (105) for a wind turbine blade root. The insert (105) has a bushing (40) and an outer surface with circumferential annular grooves (68). A transition layer (102) is built up around the bushing (40). The transition layer (102) has fibrous material sheet layers and filamentary material windings (80) in the grooves which alternate with fibrous plies (98) covering the grooves (68). Each fibrous ply (98) is anchored into the grooves (68) by the windings (80). Fibrous battens (148) are fitted around the transition layer (102) to form an insert body (108). Each batten (148) has a deltoid cross-section so that the battens give the insert a quadrilateral or trapezoidal cross-section.

A thermoplastic composite structure is produced by consolidating and forming a composite preform to a desired shape. The preform comprises plies of a high melt temperature thermoplastic prepreg that are tacked together by a low melt temperature thermoplastic adhering the plies together in fixed registration.

A multi-layer elastomeric tooling for the manufacturing of composite structures is disclosed. The tooling comprises an elastomeric base material with an outer layer of fluoroelastomer. The base material can, in certain embodiments, be selected for its mechanical or thermal performance or low cost without the limitation of being a contact material. The outer material can, in various embodiments, have inferior mechanical properties, or durometers different than the base material or can be a contact or barrier material.

An end of arm tool (EOAT) for use during manufacture of parts using one or more pre-impregnated composite plies is disclosed. In an embodiment, the EOAT includes a mechanical gripper arrangement with first and second fingers configured to supply a compressive force to grip a pre-impregnated composite ply therebetween. At least one of the first and second fingers include a roller member to engage opposite surfaces of the pre-preg ply and supply a compressive gripping force. The roller member on either or both the first and second fingers preferably include a torque regulator to selectively adjust an associated roller member's resistance to rotation via supply of a rotational torque resistance.

Described herein are methods and systems for forming composite stringer assemblies or, more specifically, for shaping composite charges while forming these stringer assemblies. A system comprises a bladder, having a bladder core, and a bladder skin. The bladder core is formed from foam. The bladder skin is formed from an elastic material and encloses the bladder core. When a composite stringer assembly is formed, the bladder is positioned over a charge base. The charge base later becomes a stringer base, such as a fuselage section or a wing skin. A charge hat is then positioned over the bladder and is conformed to the bladder. A combination of the bladder skin and the bladder core provides support during this forming operation and later while the stringer assembly is cured. In some examples, the bladder core is collapsible for the removal of the bladder from the cavity of the stringer assembly.

A thermoplastic product includes a fabric-based reinforcing sheet and a polymerized thermoplastic material. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet is wound about a mandrel to form a plurality of layers having a cross-sectional shape that corresponds to the mandrel. The fabric-based reinforcing sheet includes a plurality of fiber bundles, which may have a bidirectional orientation or configuration. A polymerized thermoplastic material is disposed within each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet. The polymerized thermoplastic material bonds each layer of the fabric-based reinforcing sheet to an adjacent layer.

A die comprises a concave die, a blank holder, and a punch passing through the blank holder. The concave die has a first reference surface, a second reference surface that forms the bottom of a concave shape, and an upright surface connecting the first reference surface and the second reference surface. The blank holder has a blank holder surface that sandwiches a prepreg together with the first reference surface. The punch has a punch surface that sandwiches the prepreg together with the second reference surface, and a punch side face that sandwiches the prepreg together with the upright surface. There is a prescribed relationship between R1, which is the radius of curvature of the corner formed by the second reference surface and the upright surface, and R3, which is the radius of curvature of the corner formed by the punch surface and the punch side face.

A method for producing, in a composite material, a component that has a re-entrant angle, includes stacking layers of fibers which have been pre-impregnated with a resin so as to obtain a preform and placing the preform in a tooling fixture in order to subject it to a polymerization cycle including a temperature cycle, with a temperature-increase phase and at least one soak at which the temperature is maintained, and a pressure cycle on the outside of the tooling fixture with a pressure-increase phase and a pressure-hold phase, with the layers of pre-impregnated fibers being able to slip against one another when the temperature of the temperature cycle is equal to or higher than a threshold temperature Tf dependent on the resin. The temperature-increase phase includes a soak at a temperature higher than or equal to Tf, the soak beginning before the end of the pressure-increase phase.

According to one implementation, a prepreg lamination apparatus includes first and second rollers, a table, and a feed structure. The first roller sends out a first prepreg tape which is a part of material of an FRP. The second roller sends out a second prepreg tape which is another part of the material of the FRP. The table is for laminating the first and second prepreg tapes directly or indirectly. The feed structure is adapted to feed out the first and second prepreg tapes in a feeding direction by moving the first and second rollers relatively to the table while performing at least one of movement of the first roller relatively to the second roller, and rotation of at least one of the first and second rollers relatively to the table around an axis which is not parallel to each of rotation axes of the first and second rollers.