25th Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 3 - 8 September 2006, Hamburg, Germany
Paper ICAS 2006-4.4.5

A BREAKTHROUGH IN ASSEMBLY OF AIRCRAFT COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

R. Paton, M. Hou, A. Beehag, P. Falzon
CRC for Advanced Composite Structures Ltd., Australia

Keywords: assembly, composite structures, welding, TCW

Thermoset Composite Welding (TCW) is a new joining technology for advanced composite components in aircraft, developed by CRC-ACS. Carbon-epoxy laminates are surfaced with a special thermoplastic. Laminate surfaces are then welded together. Weld times are approximately thirty minutes. Joint strength is excellent and the process is robust and very cost-competitive.

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