Incremental forming of thermoplastic composites

摘要

A method for incrementally mold-forming sections of a fiber reinforced, thermoplastic material into a composite product which has a mold product configuration of non-uniform cross section and/or non-linear configuration. Large laminates are formed by utilizing small to medium sized molds to successively mold incremental sections of the total product. Each section of the laminate is first heated to a flowable condition and is then compressed within the mold cavity to form the desired incremental shape. This process is completed until all parts of the product have been formed utilizing variations in mold components to change geometries within the total part.