Joints for joining panels (60, 62) together, such as for joining honeycomb sandwich panels used in aerospace applications, and methods of joining said panels are disclosed. In some examples of disclosed joints, a first panel and a second panel can be joined together to form a joint. The first panel (60) can be a flat panel that includes a rabbet (80) formed along a first longitudinal edge, and the second panel (62) can be a curved panel that includes a notch (86) formed along a second longitudinal edge. In forming the joint, a portion of the rabbet (80) can be positioned within the notch (86), and the flat panel (60) and curved panel (62) can be oriented at a non-parallel and non-perpendicular angle to one another. Adhesive (99) is applied along the rabbet (80) and/or the notch (86) in order to secure the joint.

Peel ply for surface preparation and a method of surface preparation prior to adhesive bonding. A resin-rich peel ply is applied onto a curable, resin-based composite substrate, followed by co-curing. After co-curing, the composite substrate is fully cured but the matrix resin in the peel ply remains partially cured. When the peel ply is removed, a roughened, bondable surface with chemically-active functional groups is revealed. The composite substrate with the chemically-active, bondable surface may be bonded to another composite substrate to form a covalently-bonded structure.

A resin-rich peel ply that does not leave behind residual fibers after peeling and can work well with different resin-based composite substrates. The resin-rich peel ply is composed of a woven fabric impregnated with a resin matrix different from the resin matrix of the composite substrate. The peel ply is designed such that, upon manual removal of the peel ply from the composite substrate's surface, a thin film of the peel ply resin remains on the composite substrate's surface to create a bondable surface capable of bonding with another composite substrate, but no fibrous material from the woven fabric remains on the same surface.

A joined body includes: a first compact that includes a fiber-reinforced resin and a fiber exposure portion where a fiber of the fiber-reinforced resin is exposed, the fiber exposure portion being formed on at least a part of a surface of the first compact; a second compact that is joined to the first compact at the fiber exposure portion of the first compact; and a joint portion that is interposed between the fiber exposure portion of the first compact and the second compact.

An object is to provide a composite pre-bonding treatment method that stabilizes quality of a bonded part. The present disclosure provides a composite pre-bonding treatment method performed when bonding a composite material to a member. The method includes: (S2) attaching an absorber adapted to absorb a contaminant to a surface of a prepreg laminate that is a precursor of the composite material; (S3) covering the prepreg laminate with a packaging material from above the absorber; (S4) vacuuming the packaging material and heating the prepreg laminate at a temperature lower than a curing temperature of a prepreg; (S5) then removing the packaging material; (S6) peeling off the absorber; (S7) attaching, to a surface of the prepreg laminate with the absorber peeled off, a release member that does not transfer silicone or fluorine to a resin, and then (S9) curing the prepreg laminate to mold the composite material; and (S11) peeling off the release member from the composite material before bonding the member.

A method and a system including a welding device, an inspection device having an inspection head having two sensors, a controller, and a memory for assessing a butt weld of plastic pipes or fittings in a welding device.

A manufacturing method for a sports paddle, wherein a reinforcing rod is inserted into the sports paddle, so that the reinforcing rod is located across the handle, throat, and head portions of the sports paddle. In some embodiments, a priming rod is used to create a cavity in the core of the sports paddle so that the reinforcing rod can be placed in the cavity. The manufacturing process results in a reinforced sports paddle that can withstand greater mechanical stress throughout the paddle.

A method of manufacturing a stator sleeve starts with wrapping a cylindrical mandrel with a heated prepreg tape using automated fiber placement. The prepreg tape has a continuous fiber reinforcement within a polymer matrix. Next, cool and remove the cylindrical mandrel from the wrapped prepreg tape resulting in an unfinished cylindrically shaped stator sleeve. Each end of the unfinished stator sleeve is trimmed. Next, abut a first and a second end ring respectively against a first and a second ends of the trimmed stator sleeve using a cylindrical fixture tool. The first and second end rings are the same material as the polymer matrix of the prepreg tape. Finally, laser welding or melt bonding the first and second rings to the first and second ends of the trimmed stator sleeve.

A process for forming a spliced prepreg tape by joining adjacent ends (22, 24) of a first and a second prepreg tape (2, 3, 4), each prepreg tape comprising a respective first and second prepreg layer (12, 18) comprising fibrous material and curable thermosetting resin, each prepreg tape further comprising a respective first and second releasable polymeric backing sheet (14), the process involving: peeling of the first polymeric backing sheet from the first prepreg layer, so as to provide a first peeled end region, and optionally peeling of the second polymeric backing sheet from the second prepreg layer, so as to provide a first peeled end region (30), and optionally a second peeled end region (32), over which peeled end region or regions the prepreg layer is separated from its respective polymeric backing sheet; overlapping the first and second prepreg tapes at the first peeled end region, and if present the second peeled end region, so as to form a preliminary spliced join (34, 38), the preliminary spliced join comprising first and second adjacent layers of prepreg and first and second adjacent layers of polymeric backing sheet; ultrasonically welding of the preliminary spliced join (36) to merge together the first and second adjacent layers of prepreg and to merge together the two adjacent layers of polymeric backing sheet to form the spliced prepreg tape.