Carbon Fiber Composite · Service
Carbon Fiber Composite Composite Layup Tooling
I need a layup mould or a master for a composite part. Who builds it, at what size, and in what tool material?
What it is
Design and manufacture of the mould a composite part is laid up and cured on. The tool has to hold vacuum, survive repeated autoclave cycles, and expand at the same rate as the part it is making, which is why Invar, at roughly a tenth the thermal expansion of steel, is the default material despite the cost. Get the expansion wrong and the part cures off-contour.
Suppliers
Suppliers 5
Companies that perform this process on customer material.
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Ascent Aerospace ReportedAS9100
Invar and composite layup tooling for composite fuselages, wings, frames and stiffeners. Wing skin moulds over 110 ft long, 21 ft wide and about 80,000 lb, delivered as segments and laser welded on site.
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Hexcel Corporation Verified
HexTool machinable tooling material. This is a tool you MACHINE from stock rather than fabricate, which is a different route from an Invar layup mould.
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Janicki Industries Verified
Composite and metal tooling is the company's stated core business, with a five axis envelope of 100 by 20 by 8 feet to machine it.
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Rock West Composites ReportedAS9100NADCAP Composites
Tooling named as a core service alongside engineering and manufacturing.
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Toray Advanced Composites Reported
Composite tooling materials are a named product line. Note this is tooling MATERIAL rather than a finished tool -- a different purchase from a mould builder.
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