COMPOSITES TECHNICIAN TRAINING PROGRAM

Advanced Composites - Design Manufacture and Engineering (DME)

Damian Cianci instructs this robust training course to educate students in the advanced principles
used throughout the composite industry. Located in the heart of Northwest aerospace, Damian
has been proud to work with all the local technicians and engineers for many years.

The Composite Technician Certificate was developed many years ago and we use this as our
starting point to provide a great introduction into the field. The certificate covers all the
important basics regarding composites manufacturing and repair. We quickly move beyond this
into advanced materials and methods used throughout much of the industry. For training material
we closely follow the FAA guidelines but have many other valuable sources as well. The
majority of our students in the various Applied Science and Manufacturing courses are aerospace
employed technicians and engineers they bring to us current and specific knowledge of processes
and materials used throughout the area. Beyond that, we continually look into other fields
besides aerospace to see what their challenges are. Marine and automotive are big players but
with the continued technology expansion and new companies in the game, knowledge and
creative uses of composite materials are spreading fast.


Damian continually develops this course as new technology emerges. He's has been teaching
technology and manufacturing courses with the college for over fourteen years and his delivery
of this program has received many accolades from the aerospace community and has helped
many students find employment in the aerospace composite field.

For several years this course has met all the prerequisites (Green lights) for the Boeing
composite repair job and is listed as acceptable training for the Boeing composite apprenticeship
program.


Important points for those looking to enroll:

Entry level course - No prerequisites
Several Labs - Almost daily - Lecture and labs integrated
Class meets twice a week - 3 hour sessions - day and night classes


The Objectives:

COMPOSITES TECHNICIAN CERTIFICATE

Introduction to Composites Materials

Unit 1: Why Composites?
Unit 2: Fibers
Unit 3: Resins
Unit 4: Core
Unit 5: The Interface and Surface Preparation
Unit 6: Safe Handling of Materials
Unit 7: MSDS

FRC:Manufacturing

Unit 1: Wet Hand Lay-up, Vacuum Bagging, Ply Cutting, Autoclaves and Ovens
Unit 2: Liquid Composite or Infusion Molding
Unit 3: Filament Winding and Automated Tape Lay-Up
Unit 4: Compression Molding and Pultrusion
Unit 5: Safety

FRC:Repair

Unit 1: Classification of Damage
Unit 2: Inspection and Documentation of Damage
Unit 3: Repair Techniques
Unit 4: Advanced Repair Techniques



ADVANCED COMPOSITE FABRICATION AND REPAIR

This course goes beyond the skills and methods learned in the introductory certification section
to include any new technologies, methods and advanced skills


Objectives and Labs:


Product Lifecycle Management
How this pervades all levels of manufacturing

Basic math skills
Algebra, trigonometry, fractions, ratios
Math applied to real shop needs

Further mold making techniques
Fiberglass
With and without vacuum bag
Molding plaster
Polyurethane (foam and solid)
Aluminum (CNC milled)

Introduction to CATIA and 3D Modeling
Used to design tooling for composite mold making

CNC tooling (mold making)
Aluminum
Millable wax
MDF

Mold post preparation (primarily for use with cheaper tooling)
MDF sanding and epoxy finish
Foam fiberglass coating and polishing

Laminate Labs
Comparison of various laminate structures
Core vs no core
Material comparison carbon, aramid, glass
Ply orientation comparison
Stress analysis of all these structures
Longitudinal deflection, compression, torsion, shear, peal, and tension
Bring to failure and save broken parts for later lab

Infusion labs
Vacuum infuse a 3 ply carbon fiber panel
Save part for later lab

Filament winding / roll wrapping lab
Use a small 3D printed tool to make a filament wound part

Honeycomb with carbon fiber prepreg lab
Manufacture a small floor panel
Hot bonder programming and operation
Save part for later lab

Repair labs
Laminate ply sanding practice
Use pieces of the infusion lab panel
Damage repair
Repair all broken coupons from the laminate lab
Honeycomb floor panel repair
Use part from lab
More use of hot bonders