Course Contents The course explores in depth the manufacturing of polymer composite structures and its underlying physics. By understanding
the relationships among physics, part/material quality and the design of the manufacturing process, you will be able to critically
assess any given manufacturing process. The course is built around a number of polymer composite manufacturing processes
highly relevant to the current and future aerospace industry for the manufacturing of high-performance individual parts
(autoclave processing of prepreg, liquid composite moulding, thermoplastic composite processing), for the assembling of
complex structures (manufacturing of integrated structures, thermoplastic composite welding) and for end of life and recycling.
The main basic physical phenomena governing polymer composites manufacturing, e.g. flow (of polymer and of fibres), void
formation, curing, shrinkage and crystallization, are interwoven within the course.
Study Goals At the end of this course, the student should be able to:
Describe the common manufacturing processes used in aerospace industry in terms of processing steps, tooling and equipment
as well as advantages, limitations and applicability.
Correlate and analyse the processes and their principles/underlying physics with manufacturability, part quality and
manufacturing design.
Compare and evaluate the different processes for their suitability of manufacturing common components (aircraft wing, fuselage
etc).
Recognise manufacturing defects, identify their potential sources and recommend strategies to improve the quality of common
manufacturing processes for simple component geometries to reduce scrap rate or to increase yield.
