Training in Composite Mold Fabrication for Production and Repair

Abaris has been offering advanced composite tooling training since 1989 and have updated our (M-6/R-7) Mold Fabrication course in recent years to best serve our customer needs. This course is offered three times per year in our Reno, Nevada facility in the spring, summer, and fall months so that everyone can find a good time to take this class.

Here are the course details:

Course Length: 5 days

Prerequisites:

M-1/R-1 Advanced Composite Structures: Fabrication and Damage Repair - Phase 1 course, or equivalent (5 year min) experience with advanced composite materials and processes.

(*Please contact Abaris for equivalency test criteria and evaluation.)

Summary:

This course is hands-on in nature and is designed for tooling engineers, tool designers, tool fabricators, or anyone else that has a desire to learn about designing and building molds and fixtures using advanced composite materials.

Introduction:

In this course the students will learn about tool design techniques that contribute to both dimensional stability and tool longevity. After discussing basic concepts in the classroom, the students are encouraged to apply these lessons in the workshop to see for themselves how simple ideas can greatly improve tool quality.

Molds and fixtures are fabricated in class from existing master models, patterns, or parts using the latest materials and techniques – using Toray/AmberTool® low-temp curing carbon prepreg materials for fabricating molds that can later be post-cured for use at elevated temperatures. 

Room temperature curing wet resins and dry fabrics are used for making intermediate transfer patterns and trim and drill type fixtures.

AmberTool® is a registered trademark of Toray.

Key Lecture Topics:

• The tooling family; from master model to molded part.

• Tool codes/designations.

• Prototype vs. production tooling.

• Making tooling from existing parts.

• Complex vs. simple geometries.

• Indexing and part to tool coordination.

• Realistic part and tool design tolerances.

• Thermal properties; Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE).

• Springback allowance.

• Integrated stiffening techniques.

• Backup structure materials and design.

• Damage prevention through design.

• Vacuum and pressure integrity issues.

• Lightweight tool-design concepts.

• Mold fabrication considerations: ply orientation and layup techniques.

• Tool repair materials and procedures.

• Permanent vacuum bags and semi-rigid caul tooling.

• Application of semi-permanent seal and release systems.

  
  

Workshop Exercises:

• Preparation of a master-model, permanent pattern, or an existing part for use in tool-laminate fabrication.

• Mockup fences and decks for molding stiffening flanges.

• Add indexes and other pertinent design features.

• Fabricating a carbon fiber mold using the latest low-temperature curing tooling prepreg from Toray Advanced Composites.

• includes bagging and cure processes and procedures.

• Fabricating glass-epoxy fixture laminates using wet-layup materials, methods and techniques (Time Permitting).

  
  

Please visit our “Downloads” page for current class schedules.

We hope to see you at our facility in Reno, NV in the near future!

Hands-on Composite Repair Training at Your Facility or Ours!

Abaris has been providing advanced composite repair training to industry since our inception in 1983.  All our repair courses are hands-on in nature, with between 30-80% of the time spent in our lab conducting composite repair projects. We specialize in aerospace structural repair training and have adapted these methods and techniques to provide top quality repairs to the automotive, wind, marine, transportation, sporting goods, and medical industries.  Basically, if it is a composite structure, we can teach you how to repair it.  Today’s courses are designed to provide our students with the latest knowledge and tactile skills needed to approach any structural composite repair with confidence and competence. Each course is 5-days in duration and the first three start with the curricula presented in the ER-1 for engineers or the M-1/R-1 prerequisites for technicians and run sequentially. All these courses are hands-on in nature and a great deal of time is spent in the lab doing composite repairs to actual composite parts and panels.  The embedded links below take you to the full description for each course.

Engineering Repair (ER) Track Courses:

ER-1: Aerospace Repair Analysis and Substantiation

ER-2: Advanced Aerospace Repair Analysis and Substantiation

ER-3/ES-4: FEA, DIC, and Advanced Stress Methods for Composite Structures and Repairs.

Repair Track Courses:

M-1/R-1: Advanced Composite Structures: Fabrication and Damage Repair, Phase I

R-2: Advanced Composite Structures: Damage Repair, Phase II

R-3: Advanced Composite Structures: Damage Repair, Phase III

R-4: Repair of Aluminum Bonded Structures

R-10: Helicopter Rotor Blade Repair

R-13: General Aviation Composite Repair

Manufacturing (M) and Repair (R) Crossover Courses:

M-7/R-6: Non-destructive Inspection Techniques for Technicians and Inspectors

M-4/R-7: Adhesive Bonding of Composites and Metals

M-6/R-8: Mold Fabrication for Production and Repair

Windblade Repair Track:

R-5: Composite Windblade Repair

R-15: Advanced Windblade Repair

R-GWO: Certified GWO Windblade Repair (Coming in 2025)

You can find our class schedule and pricing on our website at https://www.abaris.com/downloads and you can enroll online at https://portal.abaris.com/events for any scheduled class, or, if you have a large group that you would like to train at you own facility, please contact us at training@abaris.com for a quotation.

Contact us today for more information!

Did you know that Abaris has a nondestructive inspection (NDI) course?

Offered twice a year, the NDI course is designed for the repair technician, fabricator, or inspector tasked with identifying and quantifying defects in new or damaged composite panels using the latest equipment, methods, and techniques. The course is very “hands-on” in nature, and quite busy. The instruction is performed by an ASNT certified Level III engineer and is flexible to adapting to the students’ needs.

Introduction:

The most commonly used NDI techniques will be discussed and some will be practiced in class. These techniques include Visual Inspection, Tap Testing (both manual and instrumented tap testing), Resonance Bond Testing, Acoustic Emission testing, Radiographic testing, and Ultrasonic Inspection. Some of the more sophisticated techniques, such as Pulsed Thermography, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Laser Shearography, and Laser Holographic Interferometry may be presented, but not actively used in the class.

The students will inspect fiber-reinforced composite panels, of both solid laminate and sandwich construction. These panels will include deliberate defects in specified areas and will be inspected using different techniques to determine which methods or techniques work best for detecting the different types of defects. Through actual hands-on practice, the students will learn what methods work best and what may not work as well on different structures and with different types of defects. The goal is for the student to obtain a thorough understanding of why these differences exist, and which methods of inspection are most applicable to a specific structure.

Training begins with a discussion of the basic elements of composite materials, and construction techniques. This leads into conversation about common flaws, defects, and typical damage scenarios, including hidden damage issues. Other topics include a review of damage types and causes, as well as damage from unexpected sources such as water, paint stripper, hydraulic fluid, and low-intensity impacts. The inherent pros and Cons of all techniques and lessons learned will be discussed in detail; including a discussion about defects which cannot currently be detected with existing NDI methods or techniques.

Pre-Requisite:

M-1/R-1 or equivalent experience is preferred but not required.

Key Lecture Topics:

• Introduction to composite materials and processes.

• Fundamentals of solid laminate & sandwich panel construction.

• Types of defects and potential causes.

• Damage detection and assessment.

• Inspecting for hidden damage.

• Inspecting known damage.

• Overview of NDI methods and techniques.

• Classroom introduction to specific workshop exercises.

Workshop Exercises:

• Students will perform visual inspection, manual tap testing, digital tap testing, ultrasonic and resonance bond testing on the composite panels to find flaws and defects on simulated and actual composite structures.

• The class will also inspect secondarily bonded composite specimens with intentional defects at the bond interface utilizing different methods and techniques to determine best practices applicable for bondline inspection.

The next class is scheduled for 30 September-4 October 2024. Enroll online at https://portal.abaris.com/events.