摘要 |
2100556 9213706 PCTABS00014 A continuous forming method for long composite structural shapes such as "Z", "HAT", "L", etc. is provided. First, a lay-up is made from unidirectional tape or woven cloth (10), then the material is heated to accommodate softening of resin, then pulled through a set of rollers (14, 16, 18), then through a matched metal die (20) and a rapidly reciprocating punch (22) that facilitates to form the final shape. As the material is pulled through the area of match metal die (20) and punch (22), it is cooled down by the heat sink of the die (20) and punch (22), or any other means, so when the part exits the die (20) and punch (22) area, it is sufficiently cooled down to retain the desired shape. The rapidly reciprocating punch (22) permits the part to be pulled continuously.
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