Abstract: A method for forming a heated thermoplastic composite material into a closed profile using a tooling includes a) forming, during a first forming stage, a heated thermoplastic composite in a first space between a male tooling part and a female tooling part, b) forming, during a second forming stage, the thermoplastic composite material by engaging a first segment and/or second segment of the thermoplastic composite material with at least one auxiliary tooling part to thereby bring the first and second segments closer together, and c) forming, during a third forming stage, the thermoplastic composite material by pressing, using a pressing tooling part, the thermoplastic composite material around the male tooling part thereby creating a seam between the first and second segment.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic composite product includes: providing a first and second thermoplastic composite component made from a consolidated stack of thermoplastic composite plies, said first and second component having a first and second ply drop off, respectively. The first and second components are positioned such that the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off are aligned, and the first and second components are fixedly connected by means of heating. The stacks of plies for the first and second components are constructed by stacking the plies in a stacking direction wherein the plies are arranged such that plies at a different position along the stacking direction are laterally offset relative to each other for the purpose of forming the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off, respectively, before consolidating.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic composite product includes: providing a first and second thermoplastic composite component made from a consolidated stack of thermoplastic composite plies, said first and second component having a first and second ply drop off, respectively. The first and second components are positioned such that the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off are aligned, and the first and second components are fixedly connected by means of heating. The stacks of plies for the first and second components are constructed by stacking the plies in a stacking direction wherein the plies are arranged such that plies at a different position along the stacking direction are laterally offset relative to each other for the purpose of forming the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off, respectively, before consolidating.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and mold (100, 110) for forming a thermoplastic composite (1) that has one or more inner openings (0). The present invention further relates to a thermoplastic composite (1) manufactured using such method. Typically, forming of a thermoplastic composite (1) is achieved using a mold (100, 110) comprising a first (100) and second (110) mold part that are moved towards each other for the purpose of forming the thermoplastic composite (1). According to the invention, the mold further comprises a third mold part (120) that is movably arranged around the one or more first mold parts (100). Furthermore, an additional step is used of clamping the outer part in between the second and third mold parts during the mutual movement of the first and second mold parts while allowing the one or more inner parts to move relative to the one or more first mold parts thereby increasing the one or more inner openings, respectively.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic composite product includes: providing a first and second thermoplastic composite component made from a consolidated stack of thermoplastic composite plies, said first and second component having a first and second ply drop off, respectively. The first and second components are positioned such that the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off are aligned, and the first and second components are fixedly connected by means of heating. The stacks of plies for the first and second components are constructed by stacking the plies in a stacking direction wherein the plies are arranged such that plies at a different position along the stacking direction are laterally offset relative to each other for the purpose of forming the first ply drop off and the second ply drop off, respectively, before consolidating.