Rapid Automated Induction Lamination (RAIL) for High-Volume Production of Carbon/Thermoplastic Laminates

Abstract

An innovative Rapid Automated Induction Lamination (RAIL) process has been developed that can fabricate fully consolidated 8-ply AS4/polyetherimide (PEI) laminates in high volumes. The process relies on induction-based rapid volumetric heating for multilayer consolidation at very rapid rates (less than 30-s cycle times), while maintaining high quality (< 1% voids). Pull translation of mechanical properties has been achieved in comparison to baseline processes, such as autoclave and vacuum debulk with an order of magnitude increase in throughput. The RAIL process has the potential to be integrated with thermoforming for high-volume production of net-shape carbon/thermoplastic parts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA390864

Entities

People

  • Bruce K. Fink
  • Dirk Heider
  • John W. Gillespie Jr.
  • Nicholas Shevchenko
  • Shridhar Yarlagadda

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Sensors
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Carbon Fibers
  • Composite Materials
  • Fabrication
  • Induction Heating
  • Laminates
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Military Research
  • Production
  • Surface Warfare
  • Thermoforming
  • Thermoplastic Composites
  • Throughput
  • Two Dimensional
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials