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Bladder Assisted Composite Manufacturing

(BACM): Challenges and Opportunities
CONFERENCE PAPER OCTOBER 2014
DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2139.6169

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2 AUTHORS:
J.P. Anderson

M. Cengiz Altan

PPG Industries, Shelby, North Carolina

University of Oklahoma

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Bladder Assisted Composite Manufacturing (BACM):

Challenges and Opportunities
J.P. Anderson and M.C. Altan
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA
Abstract. Bladder molding has been used to fabricate hollow composite components for more than two decades. In bladder
molding, the requisite consolidation pressure is applied from the inside of the composite laminate during cure via a flexible bladder.
In conventional bladder molding, the cure assembly is most often heated using an external heat source such as an oven or an
autoclave. Due to the flexibility of applying pressure, the method is often the only viable process to fabricate composite components
with continuous reinforcement and complicated geometry, i.e. non-axis symmetric and varying wall thicknesses. Despite these
advantages, the technique is often overlooked because it requires the use of an oven or autoclave to cure the part, and the void
contents of the components produced may not satisfy the quality needed for structural applications. In this paper, we will introduce
and discuss the important features of the recently developed Bladder Assisted Composite Manufacturing (BACM) technique.
BACM eliminates the disadvantages of conventional bladder molding applications by heating the composite laminate internally
during cure and controlling cure pressure and resin outflow. As a result, the BACM technique was found capable of producing
aerospace quality composite structures with fiber volume contents as high as 67% and void contents as low as 0.2%. In addition,
compared to the conventional bladder molding techniques which utilize external heating, the BACM process was observed to
reduce the energy required to fabricate a composite component by over 50%. These results make the BACM technique a feasible
alternative to current fabrication methods for the production of composite components of varying geometrical complexity.
Moreover, with further development, the fabrication of large hollow composite structures such as aircraft wings and fuselages via
BACM is promising.
Keywords: BACM, Prepreg, Bladder Molding
PACS: 81.05.Qk, 81.05.Ni, 81.20.Hy

INTRODUCTION
The composite manufacturing industry has been presented with significant challenges in producing geometrically
complex and hollow components with high mechanical performance. To date, the most economically viable choice for the
fabrication of hollow components has been injection/compression molding using short fiber reinforced resin systems [1].
However, the components fabricated from these molding methods oftentimes have lower mechanical performance (e.g.,
stiffness and strength) when compared to those with continuous fiber reinforcement. For this reason, in industries where
strength to weight ratio has high priority, such as in defense and aerospace, continuous fiber reinforced materials are often
used. Currently, pultrusion and filament winding are regularly used with great success to create hollow, structural
composite components with continuous fiber reinforcement. These process have been found capable of consistently
producing parts with good surface quality and a low number of defects. However, the parts compatible with the pultrusion
and filament winding fabrication techniques are generally axis-symmetric, exhibit limited geometric complexity, and have
uniform wall thicknesses. To overcome the shortcomings of filament winding and pultrusion, the composite industry has
from the mid 1980s considered/used variations of bladder molding for the fabrication of hollow composite parts which
can exhibit high geometric complexity and asymmetry (e.g., aircraft propeller blades, and wings with integral ribs/spars).
The bladder molding technique is a fabrication process in which a laminate layup is draped around an expandable or
inflatable bladder which is then pressurized within a closed mold. The bladders used are often made from either silicone
rubber, nylon, or rubber latex depending on a number of factors such as part geometry and cost [2]. Once the fabrication
assembly has been completed, it is heated using either an oven or autoclave to achieve part cure. Depending on the bladder
molding technique used, the consolidation pressure is either applied gradually, as with an expandable bladder, or
immediately with the use of an inflatable bladder. These variations of bladder molding have been used successfully to
produce continuously fiber reinforced hollow composite parts with void volume fractions less than 5% [3, 4].

EXPANDABLE BLADDERS
In this variation of the bladder molding process, a bladder is produced such that it is slightly undersized and is placed
in the interior of the laminate which has been laid against a female metallic mold. Upon the heating of the mold to
facilitate part cure, the relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion of the bladder relative to the mold material is
employed to cause a consolidation pressure to be applied to the laminate as shown in Figure 1. The primary disadvantages
of this bladder molding variation are: (i) an oven/autoclave or complex tooling with embedded heaters is required to
supply requisite cure temperature; (ii) maximum consolidation pressure is dictated by cure temperature.

FIGURE 1. Use of expandable bladders for the manufacturing of hollow composite components [5].

INFLATABLE BLADDERS
In the bladder molding process which uses an inflatable bladder, a bladder is produced whose geometry is near the net
shape of the inside of the part to be produced. During the set-up, dry or impregnated (i.e., prepreg) fabric/fibers are draped
around an inflatable bladder. After the laminate has been placed, the mold is closed, the bladder is inflated to the desired
consolidation pressure, and the mold is heated to enable part cure as shown in Figure 2. The advantages of using an
inflatable bladder instead of an expandable bladder are: (i) parts can be fabricated using prepreg or dry fibers impregnated
using resin transfer molding (RTM); (ii) consolidation pressure can be varied independently of cure temperature [6].
However, the disadvantage of requiring an oven/autoclave or complex tooling with embedded heaters to supply requisite
cure temperature remains.

FIGURE 2. Manufacturing of hollow composite components using inflatable bladders.

BLADDER ASSISTED COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING (BACM)

Of the two bladder molding processes described, the inflatable bladder variation is the most attractive for commercial
applications due to its versatility, i.e. ability to fabricate parts using either prepreg or dry fibers impregnated via RTM.
However, the requirement to supply the heat for part cure by oven/autoclave or tooling with embedded heaters have offset
these advantages and has limited the use of bladder molding commercially. Because of this fundamental disadvantage, the
Bladder Assisted Composite Manufacturing (BACM) technique was developed to eliminate the need of an autoclave,
oven, or complex tooling with embedded heaters. The BACM process is a variation of the inflatable bladder process in
which the heating source required for part cure has been moved inside the uncured hollow layup as shown in Figure 3.
Thus, the temperature within the layup is controlled by circulating and when/if necessary venting the air within the bladder
which provides required consolidation pressure to the layup. A direct benefit of internal heating of the part/mold, is that

the fabrication assembly is no longer required to be conductive as the heat for part cure is transferred by conduction
through the bladder. Thus, the use of cost-effective materials which are thermally insulative in conjunction with the
limited use of traditional mold materials is a possibility. In a recent research by Anderson and Altan [3], a thin aluminum
shell mold with a plaster casing was used to fabricate composite cylinders from prepreg. The energy required to produce
the parts was reduced by 50% when compared to the traditional inflatable bladder molding process. Moreover, the fiber
volume fraction and mechanical properties of the parts produced were shown to be equivalent to laminates manufactured
by hot-press molding [2]. In fact, the BACM process can be optimized by controlling resin outflow by the use of o-ring
seals and bleeder cloths. It was reported that hollow composite parts can be produced with void and fiber volume fractions
as low as 0.2% and high as 67%, respectively. Thus, the BACM fabrication technique, when optimized, may be a suitable
process for the fabrication of primary aerospace structures [7].

FIGURE 3. Bladder Assisted Composite Manufacturing (BACM) fabrication assembly and process schematic [3].

FUTURE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Several challenges must be overcome in order for the BACM process to become recognized as a commercially viable
fabrication technique. Design, research, and development efforts are required to overcome the challenges in mold design,
selecting the bladder material, and controlling the pressure and temperature of the heated air inside the bladder. In this
pursuit, it is imperative that the following issues be addressed:
From an industry perspective, the ability to simulate the effect of varying process parameters on a component is
advantageous. Thus, the BACM process must be modeled to allow for (i) a thorough understanding of the
technique; (ii) process parameters to be optimized to obtain the desired part geometry, fiber volume fraction and
void volume fraction.
Work should be done to allow for the production of very complex parts, i.e. parts with integrated structural
stiffeners. Hence, allowing for the number of bonded joints in a given composite structure to be reduced.
The BACM process tooling must be scaled up to allow for the production of large composite components.
Provided the above issues are resolved, there is a tremendous opportunity for industry to reduce total fabrication costs of
large parts with complex geometry such as aircraft wings and fuselages via BACM.

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