Patent ID: 7138028

Claim:
A method for forming a composite skin panel from first and second independent dry fiber preforms, each said independent dry fiber preform including a plurality of layers of fiber material without any adhesive between adjacent layers within each respective dry fiber preform, the method comprising: disposing an adhesive only at one or more interfaces of the dry fiber preforms before the dry fiber preforms are infused with resin; placing the dry fiber preforms with the adhesive therebetween within an airtight enclosure; heating the adhesive to a temperature sufficient to cause the adhesive to become viscous; applying a vacuum to the airtight enclosure to cause the viscous adhesive to flow into and at least substantially saturate a subplurality of layers of each said dry fiber preform; after the subplurality of layers are substantially saturated with the viscous adhesive, then infusing a resin into the dry fiber preforms and using the vacuum to draw the resin through the dry fiber preforms to substantially saturate the preforms with resin; and curing the adhesive and the resin within the preforms to form a composite skin panel in which one of said preforms comprises a skin and the other of said preforms comprises a stiffener bonded to the skin.