Techniques for producing composites outside of an autoclave that have smooth surface finishes are disclosed. The smooth composite surface, free of porosity, can be fabricated by curing the prepreg in a tool that includes a novel microstructure. In conventional composite manufacturing, some degree of porosity appears to originate from trapped gas bubbles that form during curing. The microstructure can provide a mechanism for the gas bubbles to escape from the tooling, thereby eliminating porosity and yielding a smooth surface finish on the out-of-autoclave composite. The microstructure can be applied to the tool surface using an inkjet process applying an acrylic resin curable with ultraviolet light.

An assembly for producing a fiber composite workpiece having a base tool, including a first tool part and a second tool part, arranged relative to one another either in a closed position in which they enclose an internal space, or in an open position wherein a preform can be mounted in the internal space and maintained there in a predetermined shape. The base tool includes a connection to convey matrix material into the internal space, and has a device for holding the first and second tool parts together in a closed position. A tool insert is provided which is separate from the base tool, the tool insert being mounted in the internal space of the base tool, and the tool insert including a cavity for accommodating a preform and a shaping surface, facing the cavity, for maintaining the preform in a predetermined shape.

In a method for producing a hull wall of a fiber composite sandwich component, shaped bodies of extruded polystyrene hard foam are enveloped with an envelope of fiber composite material with fibers oriented at least bidirectionally. The enveloped shaped bodies have a shape for forming a hull wall and are placed next to each other in a vacuum injection structure on a lower cover layer of fiber composite material. An upper cover layer of fiber composite material is placed on top of the enveloped shaped bodies and the vacuum injection structure is sealed. Matrix material is introduced and distributed in the vacuum injection structure until the fiber composite material of the envelopes and of the upper and lower cover layers is impregnated completely with the matrix material. The matrix material is cured and the fiber composite sandwich component of the hull wall is removed from the vacuum injection structure.

In a method for impregnating semi-finished fibrous products using resin as the impregnating means, winding or laying the semi-finished fibrous products in a plurality of layers on top of one another onto a receiving carrier is initially performed. Here, lower layers lie close to the receiving carrier, and upper layers lie more remote therefrom. The receiving carrier is configured so as to be permeable to the impregnating means. The impregnating means is then introduced through the receiving carrier into the semi-finished fibrous products, wherein the impregnating means initially permeates the lower layers and then permeates the upper layers of the semi-finished fibrous products.

A curing mold for manufacturing a turbomachine component is made of composite material from a preform, including: a first and a second body defining an air gap receiving the preform; at least one primary channel arranged in the first and/or the second body; an injection member of a pressurized fluid in the primary channels; at least one secondary channel, in which a piston slides, which delimits, on the one hand, a first chamber in communication with the or a primary channel and, on the other hand, a second chamber in communication with the air gap, and which is designed to compress thermosetting resin which has entered the second chamber from the preform in the air gap, so as to put the preform under hydrostatic pressure.

A vacuum bagging system may include a layer assembly defining a fluid flow channel. The layer assembly may include a contact layer mounted to a composite part positionable within an outer mold line (OML) tool. The contact layer may have a contact layer width defined by opposing contact layer side edges. The layer assembly may further include an inner layer mounted to the contact layer and having inner layer side edges located between the contact layer side edges. The fluid flow channel may extend along at least a portion of the composite part to at least one part end. The vacuum bagging system may include an internal vacuum bag positionable against the inner layer. An inner mold line (IML) tool may support the internal vacuum bag. The contact layer width may be less than an IML tool width.

An apparatus for infusing a composite structure includes a reservoir configured to receive a volume of resin, a base, a membrane configured to be sealed upon the base, and a flow medium in fluid communication with the reservoir. The flow medium includes a first flow medium portion disposed in contact with at least a portion of the base and a second flow medium portion disposed in contact with at least a portion of the membrane.

The invention relates to an impregnation mould for manufacturing a turbine engine part, made of composite material, obtained from a preform made of a weave of fibres, said mould having first and second portions provided with respective recesses that define a cavity capable of receiving the preform, in which at least one injection means of the mould allows a resin to be injected in order to impregnate said preform, wherein said at least one injection means has a plurality of tubular injection needles, which are capable of extending from at least one of the first and second recesses to penetrate at least the weave of the preform in order to allow resin to be injected.

In order to provide a resin line that can be produced inexpensively, that meets the static requirements under action of the vacuum, and that enables a more precise discharge of the matrix material independent of the bending radii at which the resin line is laid, the resin line is formed of a corrugated pipe (2) whose wall comprises through openings (4). The through openings vary in regard to shape, size and/or frequency across a length of a corrugated pipe section of the corrugated pipe.

A method of producing FRP includes disposing a preform made of a reinforcing fiber base material in a cavity of a mold, providing a resin injection path and a suction path that sucks at least air to the mold, and causing resin from the resin injection path to flow in a direction toward the suction path in the cavity to be impregnated into the preform, wherein 1) a high flow resistance region for partially making the resin flowing in the preform hardly flow is formed in the preform itself, 2) a flow front of the resin flowing in the direction toward the suction path through the high flow resistance region is controlled to settle within a permitted region that has been predetermined relative to a shape of a product to be molded, 3) the resin injection path is formed from a runner provided around the preform and the suction path is disposed at a central portion of the preform, and the high flow resistance region is formed at a corresponding part corresponding to a part around the suction path as a high flow resistance region to cause the resin flowing in the preform from a part around the corresponding part toward the corresponding part hardly flow at the corresponding part.