Fabricating Composite Hat Stiffened Assemblies Using Flexcauls 975584
Hat stiffened composite assemblies provide aircraft with a high strength to weight ratio structure. They are however, time consuming and difficult to produce. A new tooling method has been developed that looks promising for fabricating this type of assembly. This new method incorporates a flexible caul (flexcaul) and inflatable mandrels and can be incorporated with the existing bond mold. This method improves the shape and location of the hats while reducing the fabrication time
