- By:
- Marathe, Umesh N; Kumar, Vipin ; Mungale, Chinmay V; Vashisth, Aniruddh; Talabi, Segun I; Owusu, Adwoa K; Rodriguez, Brittany A; Nuttall, David ; Geriguis, John; Kawamura, Nobi; Hassen, Ahmed A
- Page Number:
- 1-16
- Book Title:
- Proceedings of the SAMPE 2026 Conference & Exhibition
- Publication Date:
- July 9, 2026
- Publisher Location:
- SAMPE, Diamond Bar, California, United States of America
- Conference Name:
- Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE 2026)
- Conference Location:
- Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Conference Sponsor:
- SAMPE
- View DOI Listing:
- https://doi.org/10.33599/nasampe/s.26.157
Abstract
Bonded composite π-joints are critical to support wing geometries in aerospace/aircraft structures. Its lightweight and robust load-bearing capabilities/design guarantee high structural integrity and reliability. Current manufacturing techniques of π-joints are complex and laborious, and do not always offer high-quality joining. This study presents a high-rate manufacturing approach to fabricate π-joints using an integrated Additive Manufacturing and Compression Molding (AMCM) process. The joints were manufactured using unidirectional aerospace-grade LMPAEK/CF at 60% fiber loading for the stiffeners/skin and LM-PAEK/GF as the adhesive and characterized to evaluate their microstructure and strength. While the results indicate void formation at the joint caused by inadequate pressure, the peak tensile load of 600N recorded is akin to injection-autoclave molded π-joints, which validates the potential of this high-rate integrated approach to eliminate time-consuming and labour-intensive processes of making π-joints to reduce cost and produce high-quality joints.
