Abstract: The present example provides a single-use engineered ultrasonically welded vacuum bag for composite bonding and lamination. A mold is provided with a single-use engineered ultrasonically welded vacuum bag and vacuum pressure to cast and consolidate a raw material in the cavity formed by the bag sealed against the mold or structure. The single-use engineered ultrasonically welded vacuum bag is pre-made in a shape that is matched to a part being formed. A close-fitting bag is made by a flat patterning process that takes a three-dimensional CAD model of the part being built and generates a flat pattern that when welded together closely fits against the part that will be built. The process of producing the single-use engineered ultrasonically welded vacuum bag advantageously uses ultrasonic joining techniques to produce a vacuum tight bag.

Abstract: The present example provides a scalable tooling system using highly parallel convection heating for processing of high temperature composite materials. A single-sided mold is provided with vacuum pressure to cast and consolidate a raw material. The mold is integrally heated by a plurality of discretized heat sources providing a plurality of convection airflow sources to minimize the hot and cold spots inherit to typical convection oven processing. Airflow is arranged by orifices aligned conformally to the mold's profile surface such that rapid heating rates may be achieved while maintaining temperature control along the mold surface.

Abstract: The present example provides a scalable tooling system using highly parallel convection heating for processing of high temperature composite materials. A single-sided mold is provided with vacuum pressure to cast and consolidate a raw material. The mold is integrally heated by a plurality of discretized heat sources providing a plurality of convection airflow sources to minimize the hot and cold spots inherit to typical convection oven processing. Airflow is arranged by orifices aligned conformally to the mold's profile surface such that rapid heating rates may be achieved while maintaining temperature control along the mold surface.