Method for forming thick thermoplastic composite structures

1. A method of making a thick thermoplastic composite part, comprising:

assembling a ply stack including a plurality of thermoplastic composite plies into a generally flat, unshaped condition;

pre-consolidating the ply stack in the generally flat, unshaped condition, including softening the plies by heating the plies in the ply stack to a pre-consolidation temperature below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic, maintaining the ply stack at pre-consolidation temperature over a pre-consolidation dwell time, and compressing the ply stack at the pre-consolidation temperature by applying pressure to the plies sufficient to de-bulk the ply stack over the pre-consolidation dwell time;

subsequent to pre-consolidating the ply stack over the pre-consolidation dwell time, pre-forming the pre-consolidated ply stack at a temperature below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic, including preforming at least one feature in the pre-consolidated ply stack such that the pre-formed ply stack takes a general shape of a final part; and

consolidating the pre-formed ply stack, including heating the ply stack to at least the melting temperature of the thermoplastic.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein compressing the ply stack of softened plies is performed by:

placing the ply stack between two tools, and

forcing the tools together.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein compressing the ply stack of softened the plies is performed in a continuous compression molding machine.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein consolidating the pre-consolidated ply stack is performed by compacting the ply stack, and preforming the pre-consolidated ply stack further comprises:

forming the ply stack to a desired shape as the ply stack is being consolidated.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein forming the ply stack to the desired shape is performed in a continuous compression molding machine.

6. A method of forming a thick thermoplastic composite part, comprising:

assembling a ply stack into a generally flat, unshaped condition by laying up a plurality of thermoplastic composite plies on top of each other;

pre-consolidating the ply stack in the generally flat, unshaped condition using a first set of parameters, the first set of parameters including a preselected first temperature, a preselected first pressure and a preselected first time duration, wherein the preselected first pressure is sufficient to de-bulk the ply stack when the ply stack is maintained at the preselected first temperature over the preselected first time duration;

subsequent to pre-consolidating the ply stack over the preselected first time duration, pre-forming the pre-consolidated ply stack at a temperature below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic, including pre-forming at least one feature in the pre-consolidated ply stack such that the pre-formed ply stack takes a general shape of a final part; and

consolidating the pre-formed ply stack using a second set of parameters, the second set of parameters including a preselected second temperature, a preselected second pressure and a preselected second time duration.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein assembling the ply stack is performed by continuously feeding multiple thermoplastic composite plies into a continuous compression molding machine.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the preselected first temperature is a temperature sufficient to soften the plies but is below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the preselected first time duration is sufficient to allow the plies in the ply stack to soften at the preselected first temperature, and to allow de-bulking of the ply stack at the preselected first pressure.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the preselected second temperature is high enough to result in melting of the thermoplastic plies in the ply stack, and

the preselected second pressure is high enough to fully consolidate the ply stack.

11. A method of continuous compression molding thermoplastic composite parts, comprising:

assembling a ply stack including a plurality of thermoplastic pre-preg plies into a generally flat, unshaped condition:

de-bulking the ply stack in the generally flat, unshaped condition by heating the plies to a pre-consolidation temperature below their melting point and compressing the ply stack at the pre-consolidation temperature by applying pressure to the plies sufficient to de-bulk the ply stack over a pre-consolidation dwell time;

subsequent to de-bulking the ply stack over the pre-consolidation dwell time, pre-forming the de-bulked ply stack, including preforming at least one feature in the de-bulked ply stack such that the pre-formed ply stack takes a general shape of a final part; and

molding the pre-formed ply stack into a desired part shape, including heating the plies to at least their melting point and further compressing the ply stack to fully consolidate the plies.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein compressing the ply stack is performed by:

placing the ply stack between a pair of tools, and

using the tools to apply a compaction pressure to the ply stack.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein de-bulking the ply stack and molding the ply stack are performed in a continuous compression molding machine.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein de-bulking the ply stack and molding the de-bulked ply stack are performed substantially continuously.