Abstract
Hybrid tooling is an emerging concept introduced in the aerospace industries to reduce weight and cost of traditional tools. A hybrid tool features a skin, which provides desired surface quality, durability, and a low-density substrate to reduce the weight of the mold. The big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) technology permits rapid production of thermoplastic polymer intensive large-scale structures. The present study features a carbon fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (CF-PPS) substrate fabricated using Oak Ridge National Laboratory's BAAM system. Carbon fiber-bismaleimide (CF-BMI) prepreg skin was then bonded to the BAAM tool through high-pressure autoclave molding. Process optimization was conducted to improve the bonding between CF-PPS and CF-BMI (transverse tensile strength increased from 0.54 to 4.8 MPa). Durability of the mold was demonstrated from fabricating seven (7) carbon fiber-Huntsman epoxy hand lay-up parts utilizing the mold.
