Patent ID: 11878444
Assignee: GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  F  Y | IPC B  F

Claim 10:
11. A system for use in producing a hollow composite structure, the system comprising:
a mold comprising an inner surface defining a desired shape of the composite structure;
a mandrel placeable in the mold, the mandrel further comprising:
a core component;
a continuous compressible material completely surrounding the core component and having an uncompressed neutral state with a defined shape corresponding to the desired shape of the composite structure defined by the mold, the compressible material comprising a rigidity in the neutral state to maintain the defined shape during layup and curing of fiber reinforcement material placed completely around and at least partially overlapping on the mandrel;
the core component being more or less compressible than the compressible material;
the compressible material transformable into a compressed state upon application of a vacuum at a single location to compress the compressible material completely around the core component;
the mandrel with the compressible material in the neutral state having a size so as to be placeable in the mold for the layup and curing of the fiber reinforcement material; and
the compressible material returnable to the neutral state upon release of the vacuum at the single location.