An apparatus and method for the automatic manufacturing of wind turbine blades, including an elongate tool support (2) with a main suspension beam (4), a plurality of support frames (8) supporting the main suspension beam (4) above the wind turbine blade mould (1), an elongate guide rail (5) provided on the main suspension beam (4) so as to extend longitudinally along the main suspension beam (4), a slider base (6) slidably mounted on the guide rail (5), a drive mechanism (53) for driving the slider base (6) longitudinally along the guide rail (5) and a tool holder (7) mounted on the slider base (6). The apparatus/method improves the efficiency and accuracy of the blade manufacture, and also reduces the exposure of the human body to harmful substances used in blade manufacture.

Methods, apparatus, and systems for cutting material used in fused deposition modeling systems are provided, which comprise a ribbon including one or more perforations. Material is passed through at least one perforation and movement of the ribbon cuts the material. A further embodiment comprises a disk including one or more blade structures, each forming at least one cavity. Material is passed through at least one cavity and a rotational movement of the disk cuts the material. A further embodiment comprises a slider-crank mechanism including a slider coupled to a set of parallel rails of a guide shaft. The slider moves along a length of the rails to cut the material. Yet another embodiment comprises one or more rotatable blade structures coupled to at least one rod. The rotation of the blade structures causes the blade structures to intersect and cut extruded material during each rotation.

An apparatus for applying a liquid matrix to a fiber tow includes a belt press arranged to receive the fiber tow and compress it between two moving belts and a matrix application roller arranged to receive liquid matrix and transfer it to the fiber. The apparatus also includes a second matrix application component arranged adjacent to the matrix application roller so as to form a first gap between the component and the matrix application roller. The matrix application roller is positioned adjacent to the belt press so as to form a second gap between the matrix application roller and a belt of the belt press; and wherein the second gap is larger than the first gap.

A composite fuel tank includes a tank-shell and a tank-liner, located within the tank-shell. The tank-shell is formed from a composite layup that is placed, consolidated, and cured on a bladder. The bladder forms the tank-liner after formation of the tank-shell.

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating a laminate. One method includes laying up a first set of layers comprising tows of unidirectional thermoplastic fiber-reinforced material for the laminate, and laying up a second set of layers comprising tows of braided thermoplastic fiber-reinforced material for the laminate.

Methods of fabricating a multi-region U-shaped composite structure, the methods comprising the steps of laying up a first composite material on a first tool piece to form a first sidewall, laying up the second composite material on a second tool piece tool to form a second sidewall, re-orienting the first tool piece and the second tool piece to a consolidation orientation, laying up the third composite material to form a nose wall, and overlapping at least a portion of the third composite material with at least a portion of the first composite material and at least a portion of the second composite material.

Provided are a novel filament for a three-dimensional printer, a winding, a method for producing a filament for a three-dimensional printer, and a method for producing a formed article. The filament for a three-dimensional printer includes a continuous reinforcing fiber impregnated with a thermosetting resin composition containing a thermosetting resin, the filament having a characteristic of being solid at 25° C.

A method for manufacturing a composite barrel structure includes fabricating a first plurality of composite panels that are assemblable into a first partial composite barrel section. The fabricating includes assembling a first layup of composite material and, concurrently, assembling at least one additional layup. The fabricating further includes heating the first layup with the at least one additional layup. A system for fabricating a plurality of panels that are assemblable into partial barrel sections includes a first workstation for fabricating a first plurality of composite panels that are assemblable into a first partial composite barrel section. The first workstation includes a first assembly station configured to concurrently assemble a first layup of composite material and at least one additional layup and a first heating station configured to heat the first layup concurrently with the at least one additional layup to yield the first plurality of composite panels.

An apparatus and method for laminating fibers for direct manufacturing of a preform, in which rows of fibers are drawn at the same time and are arranged in the form of a preform. The apparatus for laminating fibers for direct manufacturing of a preform according to an aspect of the present invention is an apparatus which supplies reinforced fibers to a table 22 and laminating the reinforced fibers thereon, so as to manufacture a fiber preform by laminating the reinforced fibers on the table 22, the apparatus including: a reinforced fiber supply robot 30 configured to supply a predetermined length of a plurality of reinforced fibers, on which a thermoplastic resin is coated; at least one or more edge fixing robots 40 configured to press and fix an end of the reinforced fibers drawn from the reinforced fiber supply robot 30 to the table 22 while the reinforced fibers are adhered as the thermoplastic resin is melted. Particularly, the reinforced fiber supply robot 30 includes: a plurality of reels 33, around which the reinforced fibers F coated with the thermoplastic resin are wound; a plurality of supply rollers 34 configured to transfer the reinforced fibers F, drawn from the plurality of reels, to the table 22 to supply the reinforced fibers thereto; a cutter configured to cut the reinforced fibers F, supplied through the plurality of supply rollers 34, into a predetermined length; and a compression roller 37 configured to press the end of the reinforced fibers F, cut by the cutter, to the table 22.

In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a composite structure can be formed of or including a plurality of composite strips. The plurality of composite strips include one or more filler strips which can have at least one filler edge having a filler edge geometry between a first surface and second surface, the second surface being opposite the first surface. The filler edge geometry can be configured to prevent formation of one or more gaps between one or more adjacent composite strips.