The invention relates to an implantable medical device having a body comprising a composite material. The body has a variable cross section along a length, a first portion which forms a part of a surface of said body, and a packing portion. An insert is provided in the packing portion for providing an increased thickness to at least a part of the body.

Methods for fabricating Class-A components (CAC) include providing a molding precursor which includes a first and second skin layer each including a fiber reinforcing material embedded in a polymer matrix, a third layer between the first and second skin layers and including a third polymer matrix and a filler material interspersed therein. The fiber reinforcing materials include a plurality of substantially aligned carbon fibers having a plurality of low strength regions staggered with respect to the second axis. The method includes disposing a molding precursor within a die, compression molding the molding precursor in the die, wherein the die includes a punch configured to contact the second skin layer, opening the die to create a gap between the punch and an outer surface of the second skin layer, and injecting a Class-A finish coat precursor into the gap to create a class-A surface layer and form the CAC.

An aircraft flap is constructed of nested layers of composite material in the aircraft flap that include an inner layer, a middle layer and an outer layer. The aircraft flap is constructed with the inner layer laid up around a central mandrel, the middle layer laid up around the middle layer and the outer layer laid up around the middle layer. The inner layer, the middle layer and the outer layer are co-cured on the mandrel, removed from the mandrel and then assembled together with the inner layer formed in a folded over configuration around a hollow interior volume of the aircraft flap, the middle layer formed in a folded over configuration over the inner layer, and the outer layer formed in a folded over configuration around the middle layer.

The present invention includes methods of preparing a composite structure comprising: placing a first ply of a fibrous material with a curable material on a layup tool; adding one or more additional plies on the first ply, wherein each of the one or more additional plies has a perimeter that is different in size around the perimeter than a previous ply to form a taper; and curing the composite structure, wherein the curable material is selected to minimize, limit, control, or eliminate the outflow of the curable material along the perimeter of the composite structure during the curing step.

Systems (300) for and methods of forming structural components from a source, such as one or more rolls (302), of a fibrous material (e.g., fabric) are disclosed. The fibrous material (304) is made up of multiple layers (308, 310, 312), with at least one pair of adjacent layers having different lengths.

A method of forming a tool includes applying a first build ply to an initial ply. A second build ply is applied to the first build ply. Successive build plies are applied to build on the second build ply, the successive build plies including a medial section of build plies and a last build ply. A surface defined by the last build ply, the first build ply, and leading edges of the build plies therebetween define a substantially curvature-continuous surface profile extending between a first segment and a second segment. A shape of the substantially curvature-continuous surface profile is determined based on an adjusted ply drop ratio for at least a portion of the successive build plies.

Provided are seat tracks comprising composite frames and methods of fabricating such seat tracks. A composite frame comprises two sets of fibers having different orientations. The first fibers may extend parallel to the principal axis of the track, while the second fibers may extend within planes perpendicular to that axis. Various characteristics of these fibers may be specifically selected such that the mechanical strength of the frame in the principal axis direction is greater than other directions. In other words, the composite frame may have anisotropic properties. This difference ensures that adequate support is provided during both normal conditions and extreme conditions. Specifically, during the normal operating conditions, most loads may be directed vertically, while at the extreme conditions most loads may be directed horizontally. Aligning the fiber orientation of the composite frame with various directions of expected load allows forming a very light yet sufficiently supportive seat track.

A composite blade is formed by laying up composite layers in which reinforced fibers are impregnated with resin, and has a blade root and an airfoil extending from the blade root in a longitudinal direction. The composite blade includes a first laminate of the composite layers extending along the longitudinal direction in the airfoil and extending along a first inclination direction inclined toward a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction in the blade root; a second laminate of the composite layers extending along the longitudinal direction and contacting the first laminate in the airfoil, the second laminate extending along a second inclination direction inclined toward a direction opposite to the first inclination direction in the blade root and being separated from the first laminate; and a third laminate of the composite layers provided between the first and second laminates in the blade root

A composite prepreg laminate such as a hat type-stringer is formed on a contoured mandrel using a combination of mechanical sweeping and vacuum forming.

The method for producing an assembly is a method for producing an assembly equipped with a member to be reinforced (20), a reinforcing member body (41), and a filler (42), wherein the reinforcing member body (41) has a pair of flanges (44) arranged spaced on the surface (20B) of the member to be reinforced (20), a web (45), and a connection portion (46) which connects the flanges (44) and the web (45) and forms a filler space (V) with the surface (20B). The method for producing an assembly includes a step for inserting a filler (42) into the filler space (V), a step for attaching a crack control member (43) to cover the end of the filler (42), a step for joining the flanges (44) and the member to be reinforced (20), and a step for curing at least the member to be reinforced (20).