Filament lamellae forming apparatus

Abstract

Abstract Filament-reinforced lamellae for fabricating composite turbine blades are made by feeding filaments into matched grooves formed in the faces of a split die having a contour corresponding exactly to that of the desired lamella form. The distance to which the individual reinforcing filaments are inserted into the die block is determined by wire stop elements inserted from the opposite end. After the reinforcing filaments are properly placed the stop wires are removed and molten or liquid resin is injected between the die faces to bind the filaments together into a ply. The die is then heated to cure or chilled to solidify the resin or binder, the filaments are sheared and the ply lamella is ejected from the mold. A machine feeds the reinforcing filaments into the grooves between the die faces after the wire stops have been positioned from the opposite end. The machine removes the wire stops and injects the molten or liquid resin or binder, solidifies the resin or binder in the closed mold, shears the filaments after solidification and ejects the lamella from the mold.

Inventors

• 👤 John A Alexander

Bibliographic Details