Composites Research

The Korean Society for Composite Materials (한국복합재료학회)
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Fabrication and Evaluation of Integrated Composite Part for Aircraft using OoA (Out-of-Autoclave) Prepreg

OoA (Out-of-Autoclave) 프리프레그를 이용한 항공기용 복합재 일체형 부품 제작 및 평가

  • Received : 2016.05.03
  • Accepted : 2016.10.21
  • Published : 2016.10.31
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Abstract

Conventionally, composite aircraft structures are fabricated within autoclave at high pressure. However, autoclave process has several disadvantages including high curing costs and limitation of part size. Recently, out-of-autoclave (OoA) processes have been investigated in many studies to replace conventional autoclave process. A newly developed OoA prepreg, using conventional ovens, can significantly reduce the curing costs and produce autoclave-quality parts. Nevertheless, manufacture of void-free complex shape structure using OoA process presents significant challenges because of the low consolidation pressure. In this study, integrated skin-spar-rib composite part was fabricated using OoA prepreg. And cross-sectional macro- and micro-graphs of the part were examined in order to assess the possibility of replacing conventional autoclave process.

일반적으로 항공기 복합재 구조물은 고압의 오토클레이브(Autoclave)를 이용하여 제작하고 있으나 제작 가능한 크기가 제한적이고 고가라는 단점이 있다. 최근 전통적인 오토클레이브 공정을 대체하기 위해 Out-of-Autoclave(OoA) 공정에 대한 연구가 많이 이루어지고 있다. 최근에 개발된 OoA 프리프레그는 오븐에서 경화가 가능하기 때문에 장비 투자비와 경화 비용이 낮을 뿐만 아니라 오토클레이브 프리프레그와 유사한 품질을 나타내는 것으로 알려져 있다. 그러나 OoA 공정은 낮은 압력 때문에 복잡한 형상의 부품을 결함없이 제작하기는 매우 어렵다. 본 연구에서는 최신 OoA 프리프레그를 이용하여 Skin-Spar-Rib 일체형 복합재 부품을 제작하고 단면 관찰 결과를 통해 기존 오토클레이브 공정의 대체 가능성을 판단하고자 한다.

Keywords

References

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