Composites Part Production with Additive Manufacturing Technologies

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is of particular interest in the context of composite part production as AM promises the production of integrated, complex structures with low lead times. Currently, AM is used for tooling and sandwich cores with added functionalities. This paper presents four design principles that improve the production of composites parts during layup, handling, curing and post processing in the layup process. Design principles are applied to a hat-stiffener, a highly integrated aircraft instrument panel and a novel insert eliminating drilling operations. Results show that AM can reduce the part count, assembly steps and deformations during curing.