Breathable tooling for forming parts from volatile-emitting composite materials

摘要

An apparatus for curing composite materials that emit large volumes of volatiles during processing. The apparatus includes tooling having a rigid forming surface contoured to the shape of the formed composite part. A plurality of passages extend from the forming surface through the tooling. The passages are in fluid contact with an exhaust port. A composite workpiece is laid up and placed adjacent the forming surface. The apparatus includes a heater that heats the composite workpiece to temperatures at which volatiles are emitted. An evacuation system draws the volatiles away from the composite workpiece through the passages in the tooling and out of the exhaust port. One embodiment of tooling according to the invention is used to form a sine wave spar. The tooling includes upper and lower tool inserts upon which U-shaped composite channels are formed. The upper and lower tools are placed adjacent to each other to form the web of the spar. Cap strips are placed on either side of the joined U-shaped channels. Side rail tools are then placed adjacent the cap strips. A breather cloth is placed over the tools and the entire assembly is placed within a vacuum bag. The assembly is then placed within an autoclave and connected to the vacuum exhaust of the autoclave. During processing, volatiles are drawn away from the composite workpiece through the passages in the tooling using the vacuum exhaust.