Patent ID: 8556619

Claim:
A composite fabrication apparatus, comprising: a first tooling die and a second tooling die movable with respect to each other, the first tooling die and the second tooling die comprising a plurality of stacked metal sheets, a plurality of air gaps defined between adjacent stacked metal sheets; a first contoured surface provided on said first tooling die and a second contoured surface provided on said second tooling die, the first contoured surface and the second contoured surface configured to impart a curved contour to a composite material; a first set of stacked metal sheets positioned with a varying alignment so as to configure the first contoured surface, and a second set of stacked metal sheets positioned with a varying alignment so as to configure the second contoured surface; a thermal control system having induction coils disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die; and a cooling system disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die, the cooling system comprising a first conduit having selected distribution in the first set of stacked metal sheets of the first tooling die and a second conduit having selected distribution in the second set of contoured stacked metal sheets of the second tooling die, and the cooling system configured such that the first conduit provides a cooling medium to the first set of stacked metal sheets and the second conduit provides the cooling medium to the second set of stacked metal plates such that the cooling medium passes through the air gaps between each of the first set of stacked metal sheets and the second set of stacked metal sheets.