The use of reformable, reusable tooling can greatly reduce the time, cost and skills required for conventional tooling production, and no waste products are generated since the tooling materials themselves can be rapidly cycled from a hard tooling-capable state to a liquid-like state and back to the tool-capable state. We are proposing to create a new, lightweight, rapid tooling system for prototyping, field repair and depot-level manufacture / re-manufacture of composite components and structures. The proposed fieldable system will be based on a new class of low density state-change materials and on the development of a robust lightweight system that operates a new type of single-faced reformable toolbed. The new materials, toolbed design and activating system will be mounted in a field-transportable tooling package proposed for development through this program. In the program's Phase III stage and beyond, the system will be further developed into a fieldable "manufacturing cell" for composites fabrication through the incorporation of features for vacuum debulking and vacuum bagged, temperature-regulated cure of parts.
Benefits: The total addressable market for the proposing company's reformable (reconfigurable) tooling systems is more than $2 billion annually in aerospace, transportation, marine and consumer products industries. The company has begun shipment of 'Beta' systems with a single-sided reformable tooling bed for hand layup of composite materials and thermoforming of sheet materials. Beta site customers include one of the largest U.S. aerospace companies, a big three automaker and a Fortune 100 manufacturer of consumer electronics. Through the Tier 1 companies, the proposing company's technology will be introduced to thousands of Tier 2-3 suppliers and so have a broad impact on the costs of tooling and time to product.
Keywords: tooling, reconfigurable, reformable, state-change, composites, fabrication, rapid, low-cost
