An improved approach to compensating for cure‐induced deformation to manufacture composite aircraft skin accurately

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to compensate for the cure‐induced deformation to manufacture composite aircraft skin with variable curvature accurately. Firstly, a finite element analysis (FEA) method appropriate for curing simulation was described. Then, the discrete curvature‐based displacement adjustment (DC‐DA) method for mold surface compensation was proposed. The DC‐DA method utilizes the discrete curvature of the section points to obtain a smooth compensated curve. Finally, a skin part was selected to prove its effectiveness. The experimental results showed that after the mold's surface was modified by the DC‐DA method with the FEA‐predicting deformation as input, the forming shape could meet the requirement of the part accuracy in one cycle. The DC‐DA method was also compared with the displacement adjustment (DA) method and proved to be more efficient for the compensation of composite skin with variable curvature. Highlights The FEA is appropriate for the calculation of the skin's curing deformation. The DC‐DA method is efficient for compensating for the skin's deformation. The shape of the case part could meet the requirement of accuracy in one cycle.