Patent ID: 8394310

Claim:
A method of consolidating a composite element having at least one enclosed cross section, comprising: expanding a flexible compaction tool, such that a corner segment of the flexible compaction tool contacts and compresses a portion of a composite material into an internal corner region of a mold; and thereafter compressing, using the flexible compaction tool, a second portion of the composite material against a second region of the mold, wherein the second region of the mold is adjacent to the internal corner region of the mold, such that the composite material is substantially evenly consolidated around the at least one enclosed cross section, and such that when the flexible compaction tool is unexpanded the corner segment of the flexible compaction tool is convex, and a wall segment of the flexible compaction tool, which is adjacent to the corner segment of the flexible compaction tool, is contoured away from the mold, wherein when the flexible compaction tool expands, the wall segment exerts a force on the corner segment that presses the corner segment into the internal corner of the mold before the wall segment compresses the composite material against the second region of the mold.