Method for actively cooling and supporting components during thermoplastic composite welding
A method for welding thermoplastic composite parts while actively cooling includes placing a first composite part onto a surface of a tooling, placing a second composite part onto the first composite, pressing the second composite part toward the first composite part with an induction welding end effector, and providing a flow of air or gas through an opening extending through the shaping surface while induction welding the second composite part to the first composite part. The first composite is sandwiched between the surface of the tooling and the second composite. The flow of air or gas impinges on a bottom surface of the first composite part and is sufficient to press the first composite part toward the second composite part. Induction welding the second composite part to the first composite part is performed by applying induction heating while the flow of air is provided through the at least one opening.
1 . A method for thermoplastic composite welding, the method comprising:
placing a first composite part onto a surface of a tooling, wherein the tooling comprises at least one opening, wherein the first composite part has a bottom surface and a top surface and wherein said placing the first composite part comprises placing the first composite part so that the bottom surface is supported against the tooling and the top surface side faces away from the tooling;
placing a second composite part onto the first composite, such that the first composite is sandwiched between the surface of the tooling and the second composite, wherein the second composite part has a bottom surface and a top surface and wherein said placing the second composite part comprises placing the second composite part so that the bottom surface of the second composite part faces the top surface of the first composite part and the top surface of the second composite part faces away from the first composite part;
providing a flow of air or gas through the at least one opening, with the flow of air or gas impinging on a bottom surface of the first composite part, wherein the flow of air or gas is sufficient to press the first composite part toward the second composite part; and
induction welding the second composite part to the first composite part by applying induction heating while the flow of air is provided through the at least one opening, wherein said applying induction heading comprises pressing an induction welding end effector downward onto the top surface of the second composite part to apply downward pressure onto the first composite part and the second composite to promote intimate contact between the top surface of the first composite part and the bottom surface of the second composite part while passing an electric current through an induction coil of the induction welding end effector;
wherein said providing the flow of air or gas convectively cools the bottom surface of the first composite part from below while the inductive heating is simultaneously provided via the induction welding end effector from above the top surface of the second composite part.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising pressing the second composite part toward the first composite part using an upper mold tooling, an induction welding end effector, or a vacuum bag compressed toward the second composite part.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow of air or gas has a fluid entrained therein which vaporizes at a temperature below a deformation temperature of the first composite part.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one opening includes a manifold providing the flow of air or gas to a plurality of channels or a textured region of the surface of the tooling, wherein the manifold is connected to a pressurized cooling supply for supplying the flow of air or gas thereto.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tooling further comprises at least one exit conduit through which exhaust created by the flow of air or gas impinging on the bottom surface of the first composite part escapes in a direction away from the first composite part.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one exit conduit comprises at least two exhaust manifolds on opposite sides of an induction welding region on which the first composite part and the second composite part are being induction welded together.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising pressing the second composite part toward the first composite part via an induction welding end effector, wherein the flow of air or gas is sufficient to provide an equal and opposite force to that exerted by the induction welding end effector.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow of air or gas is sufficient to hover at least a portion of the first composite part above the surface of the tooling.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the induction heating is provided via conducted heat, magnetic fields, or radiant heat via an induction coil of an induction welding end effector applied to at least a portion of the second composite part.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising placing a porous material between the first composite part and the tooling, providing for escapement of the flow of air or gas outward, away from a region where the first composite part and the second composite part are being induction welded together.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first composite part comprises a skin, and wherein the second composite part comprises a substructure having a flange and at least one raised segment extending from the flange.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the tooling is a shaping surface configured to maintain the bottom surface of the first composite part in a shape of an outer mold line.
13 . The method of claim 4 , wherein placing the second composite part comprises aligning the second composite part over a portion of the first composite part that rests on the plurality of channels or the textured region of the surface of the tooling.