DESIGN FOR INNOVATIVE AND COST-EFFICIENT MANUFACTURING OF COMPOSITE SANDWICH STRUCTURES WITH FOAM MOLDED CORES FOR HIGH-RATE PRODUCTION OF WING MOVEABLES

In sandwich structures, aramid paper or aluminum honeycomb cores are commonly used in the field of the aerospace industry. However, production methods for those, especially the autoclave process, often require many consecutive process steps and therefore do not meet desired requirements given cycle time and costs. The vacuum infusion process can significantly reduce those costs even more when employed in one shot. A requirement for this process is the usage of a core with closed cells to prevent unwanted penetration of resin into honeycomb cells. A polymethacrylimid (PMI) foam core represents a promising solution. Usually, the final geometry is machined out of a core block. In this research, the potential of a particle foam that can be foamed into a general geometry in mold (Rohacell® Triple F) is investigated by employing two different design approaches.