METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING A FIBRE REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE STRUCTURE

摘要

An apparatus for fabricating a fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite structure is described. The apparatus comprises a localised heat source arranged to heat a portion of a stack of fibre reinforced thermoplastic material layers and an ultrasonic transducer arranged to locally introduce ultrasonic energy waves to the heated portion of the fibre reinforced thermoplastic material layers. The apparatus makes it possible to achieve ultrasonic consolidation of the layers occurs.