ABSTRACT
Metal and wood are usually obtained in block, rod, plank, or sheet form for use as raw material in machining, molding, and joining operations to produce the final component, although there are some metal-working exceptions such as casting, sintering, and extrusion without intermediate semifinished product forms. For the most part the situation is quite different with fiber-reinforced composites. With composites both raw material and final component are normally made in the same manufacturing operation, though the use of prepregs and molding compounds represents an in-between situation. The expressions refer to the extent of post-manufacturing machining and trimming needed, which from both economical and property viewpoints naturally should be minimized. Molds are also known as tools, tooling, mandrels, and dies; the term used is largely determined by convention and by the manufacturing technique in which it is used. The only technique that has been developed exclusively for thermoplastic composite manufacturing is diaphragm forming.
