Experimental Study on Forming Quality of Hat-Shaped Component Based on Combined Mandrel Pressurization Method

The uncontrollable forming quality of component caused by the uncontrollable expansion pressure of silicon rubber mandrel has long been an unsolved problem in the fabrication of composite hat-shaped components. Here,we advanced a novel mandrel pressurization method combining silicon rubber mandrel and inflatable mold. Cure experiments were carried out based on the combined mandrel with different adjustable apertures. At the same time, the resin pressure of the components was monitored on-line during the curing process by using a self-built pressure on-line monitoring system, and their geometric accuracies and forming quality were evaluated. The experimental results show that the combined mandrel forming method can control the uniformity of pressure, geometric accuracies and forming quality of the hat-shaped component effectively, and the optimal size range is obtained with the hole ratio of 0.4~0.53. Compared with the traditional auxiliary forming method, combined mandrel pressurization method greatly reduces the requirements on the size of the mandrel structure and broadens the process window of the mandrel for the curing of hat-shaped component.