Ducting for aircraft has traditionally been fabricated using a variety of tooling methods such as plaster slosh, eutectic salt, and multi-piece metal and composite mandrels to mold internally controlled surfaces. All of these methods present specific problems in production that are inherent in their use. Slosh molding of plaster or eutectic salt involves a labor intensive and sometimes messy process. The reuseable elastomeric mandrel system (REM) was developed as an innovative, cost effective alternative to these current tooling methods. This paper will describe the general concept, tooling requirements, design considerations, limitations and solutions.
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 06/01/1997 |
