Patent ID: 9278484
Filing Date: 2016-03-08
CPC Classification: B29C,B29L,B32B,G06F,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A method of fabricating a contoured composite structure comprising an axis of curvature and at least one curved leg, the method comprising forming a flat stack by: laying up a first set of prepreg fiber plies comprising a non-zero degree fiber orientations relative to the axis of curvature; laying up, a second prepreg fiber ply comprising a zero degree fiber orientation relative to the axis of curvature, the second prepreg fiber ply comprising a web portion and an inner leg portion, the web portion comprising continuous tows, and the inner leg portion comprising segmented tows, the segmented tows comprising segments in different radial positions with ends staggered relative to each other and positioned so that adjacent ends of the segments comprise an overlap at the adjacent ends; and forming the flat stack, comprising the zero degree fiber orientation, into a web from the web portion and the at least one curved leg from the inner leg portion, the forming comprising moving the adjacent ends of the segments that comprise the overlap to a substantially abutting position.