The present invention realizes the production of a molded composite article that has superior appearance, that is capable of preventing or reducing a deterioration of mechanical properties, and that is superior in productivity. A sheet of a unidirectional material is fixed to a specific part of a lower mold, a force in an out-of-plane direction is applied to a specific part of a zone of the sheet which zone is to undergo shear deformation or compressive deformation, and the sheet is preformed, thereby obtaining a preform. Heat and pressure are applied to the preform in a mold, thereby obtaining a molded composite article having a desired shape.

An apparatus for consolidating fiber-reinforced resin material comprises a housing, comprising a barrel and a receptacle. The receptacle comprises a base, a lid, positionable relative to the base and relative to the barrel such that the housing is in an open state or a closed state, and a de-gassing port. The apparatus comprises a gasket that is in contact with the lid, the base, and the barrel when the housing is in the closed state. The apparatus comprises a piston, movable between a retracted position, in which the piston, in its entirety, is in the barrel, and an extended position, in which a portion of the piston is in the receptacle and another portion of the piston is in the barrel. The apparatus comprises a seal, which is in contact with the piston and the barrel, and a drive system, configured to control movement of the piston.

Methods and devices of fabricating a stringer for a vehicle. The stringer can be constructed from two charges that are formed together into the stringer. During fabrication, the charges are placed over support members with the ends of each charge extending over a die cavity. The charges are secured and a punch die forces the first ends into the die cavity forming blades of the stringer. The charges are secured thus tensioning the charges during the punch process.

An apparatus for molding a part includes a plunger cavity, a plunger, and a mold cavity, wherein the plunger is oriented out-of-plane with respect to a major surface of the mold cavity, and first and second vents couples to respective first and second portions of the mold cavity. In a method, resin and fiber are forced into the mold cavity from a plunger cavity, and at least some of the fibers and resin are preferentially flowed to certain region in the mold cavity via the use of vents.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced resin molded article capable of distributing the pressure without concentration on the vicinity of the resin inlet and so preventing the deformation of a preform, and such a manufacturing device thereof. The method lowers a lower core as a moving core in a lower mold (first mold) (away from a preform) to let resin flow toward the lower mold (first mold). This distributes the pressure concentrated in the vicinity of the resin inlet and prevents deformation of the preform.

Presented are manufacturing control systems for fabricating composite-material structures, methods for making/operating such systems, and resin transfer molding techniques for ameliorating race-tracking effects in fiber-reinforced polymer panels. A method for forming a composite-material construction includes confirming, via a system electronic control unit (ECU), that a fiber-based preform is placed in a mold cavity and that opposing mold segments of the molding apparatus are sealed together. A filler, such as a compressible bladder, a cluster of spring-biased pins, or a spray-chopped fiber bed, is introduced into a void between the fiber-based preform and a tool face of one mold segment to thereby eliminate an unwanted resin race track. The system ECU commands a resin pump to inject resin through a primary gate of the molding apparatus and into the mold cavity to thereby impregnate the fiber-based preform with the resin. One or more vents operate to evacuate air from the mold.

An apparatus for molding a part includes a plunger cavity, a plunger, and a mold cavity, wherein the plunger is oriented out-of-plane with respect to a major surface of the mold cavity, and first and second vents couples to respective first and second portions of the mold cavity. In a method, resin and fiber are forced into the mold cavity from a plunger cavity, and at least some of the fibers and resin are preferentially flowed to certain region in the mold cavity via the use of vents.

A composite laminate stiffener is formed to contour with reduced ply wrinkling using constrained creep forming. The tooling apparatus is provided with flexible cauls which constrain the stiffener during the contour forming process. The creep forming is carried out at a slow enough rate so that friction or shear resistance between the resin and fibers of the plies remains low enough that slippage can occur and significant compression stresses are not generated rate, allowing relaxation of residual stresses in the stiffener.

A method for producing a three-dimensional fiber-reinforced resin molded body by press-molding a heated and softened plate-like molding matrix using a mold, the method sequentially including: setting the matrix on a lower mold including a pad and mold main bodies by mounting a central portion of the matrix on the pad and supporting at least one end side of the matrix by at least one support protruding upward from a molding surface of at least one of the mold main bodies; bringing an upper mold and the lower mold close together to sandwich the central portion of the matrix by the pad and the upper mold; bringing the upper and lower molds still closer together to reduce the protrusion amount of the at least one support; and pressing the matrix by using the lower and upper molds to form the molded body.

An apparatus for molding a part includes a plunger cavity, a plunger, and a mold cavity, wherein the plunger is oriented out-of-plane with respect to a major surface of the mold cavity, and first and second vents couples to respective first and second portions of the mold cavity. In a method, resin and fiber are forced into the mold cavity from a plunger cavity, and at least some of the fibers and resin are preferentially flowed to certain region in the mold cavity via the use of vents.