{"closest_prior_art":[{"name":"Pre-production experimental thermal profiling with a representative part or charge","overlap":"CKN describes experimental thermal profiling as composites-manufacturing practice, often required before production qualification. It permits an instrumented representative part or charge, identifies lead, lag, and exotherm thermocouples, and checks the measured thermal history against cure-window limits.","remaining_difference":"The proposal more narrowly requires a contained, sacrificial, configuration- and material-matched reacting surrogate for each novel thick-section cure, followed by preregistered transfer allowances, a formal production-release gate, and continuing backtesting against production outcomes.","source_ids":["SRC3"]},{"name":"Boeing reacting temperature emulator, US9304048","overlap":"The patent discloses a physical temperature emulator containing an uncured-composite exotherm charge, thermal mass, insulation, and temperature sensors to emulate the thermal gradient and exothermic behavior of a thick composite during a cure cycle; its output can support adjustment of cure parameters.","remaining_difference":"The disclosed principal use places the emulator near a production part during curing and can feed in-process control. It does not clearly require a separate upstream sacrificial run, lot- and configuration-specific release gating, residual-cure acceptance criteria, or production-versus-surrogate forecast-error retirement rules.","source_ids":["SRC2"]},{"name":"Instrumented thick-composite panel validation and active cure control","overlap":"The research cured a 41-mm, 228-ply carbon/epoxy panel with five through-thickness thermocouples, measured exothermic overshoot and gradients, used DSC for material-state assessment, and demonstrated cure-setting changes subject to overshoot constraints.","remaining_difference":"It validates a numerical model and performs automated in-situ control of the curing article rather than using an independently cured upstream surrogate as a manual production-release gate.","source_ids":["SRC1"]},{"name":"NCAMP qualification-panel cure specification NPS 82014","overlap":"The specification establishes controlled qualification and equivalency panels, defined bagging and tooling, panel thermocouples, lagging-thermocouple-based ramps and dwells, recorded process data, alternative cure cycles, quality checks, and abort criteria.","remaining_difference":"It is a material qualification-panel procedure with prescribed cycles, not a geometry-specific thermal surrogate that predicts a novel production configuration and triggers pre-production cycle correction with quantified transfer uncertainty.","source_ids":["SRC4"]}],"contrastive_claim_falsifier":"In blinded matched trials, the configuration-matched surrogate fails to classify held-out production peak temperature, through-thickness gradient, or residual-cure compliance better than existing representative-charge thermal profiling, qualification-panel data, and approved modeling; or surrogate-gated adjustments increase violations, missed excursions, or false production blocks after accounting for transfer uncertainty.","contrastive_claim_remaining":"Beyond established representative-charge thermal profiling and reacting temperature emulators, requiring a separately cured, contained, lot- and configuration-matched surrogate before each novel thick-section production cure—and coupling it to preregistered transfer bounds, a manual release gate, and repeated surrogate-to-production error backtesting—reduces held-out production envelope violations.","experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp13_second_slot_policy60_20260806","gates":{"adequate_source_search":{"rationale":"Four search lanes covered the direct intervention, representative-part and charge terminology, qualification practices and specifications, and combinations of thick-section exotherm, thermocouples, tooling boundaries, and cure adjustment. Four retained sources from four publishers include primary research, a patent disclosure, professional practice guidance, and an official process specification.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"],"status":"PASS"},"bounded_next_test":{"rationale":"A bounded retrospective test using six configurations is feasible: freeze surrogate similarity rules and thresholds, blind the team to production traces, then compare surrogate classifications and proposed manual adjustments with existing thermocouple and post-cure records. The cited work demonstrates measurable panel gradients and exotherm, representative-charge profiling, and controlled panel records.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC3","SRC4"],"status":"PASS"},"distinct_testable_claim":{"rationale":"Although the broad physical-surrogate idea is established, the narrower combination of a separate matched run, explicit release gating, declared transfer uncertainty, and production-error backtesting has a measurable comparator and falsifier.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"],"status":"PASS"},"no_obvious_safety_or_authority_stop":{"rationale":"A non-production run in approved containment with redundant sensing, facility-limit stops, no automatic production actuation, retained operator abort authority, and retained materials-authority release authority presents no obvious categorical stop. The official specification independently shows that hazardous-material responsibility, abort criteria, recorded deviations, and engineering disposition remain necessary.","source_ids":["SRC4"],"status":"PASS"},"supported_problem":{"rationale":"The sources directly show that thick thermoset laminates can develop large reaction-driven temperature overshoots and through-thickness gradients, that tool and boundary uncertainty affects curing, and that thin qualification coupons may not reproduce the thermal history of thicker production parts.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"],"status":"PASS"}},"prior_art_disposition":"ESTABLISHED_PRACTICE","problem_evidence":{"finding":"The problem is visible: thickness, thermal mass, tooling, and heat-removal boundaries couple with resin reaction to produce lag, internal exotherm, temperature gradients, and possible cure-window violations that thin coupons or nominal schedules may not reveal.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"],"status":"SUPPORTED"},"research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp13_light_screen_20260806","schema_version":1,"screen_id":"E13P114","screen_survival":false,"search_lanes":{"component_combination":{"no_result_note":null,"queries":["patent sacrificial composite coupon cure cycle thermocouple exotherm","\"representative laminate\" \"cure cycle\" thermocouple exotherm","thick composite cure cycle validation representative panel thermocouples exotherm"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"direct_problem_and_intervention":{"no_result_note":null,"queries":["thick thermoset composite cure instrumented surrogate coupon exotherm pre-production cure cycle","\"thermal surrogate\" composite cure","\"representative part\" charge pre-production thermal profiling composites"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"products_practices_and_standards":{"no_result_note":null,"queries":["AS9100 Nadcap composite cure process qualification thermocouple cure cycle","site:compositeskn.org/KPC \"How to perform an experimental thermal profile\"","NCAMP composite qualification panel cure thermocouple process specification"],"source_ids":["SRC3","SRC4"]},"synonyms_and_historical_terms":{"no_result_note":null,"queries":["composite cure thermal mock-up instrumented trial laminate exotherm autoclave","\"trial panel\" thick composite cure exotherm thermocouple","\"representative laminate\" \"cure cycle\" thermocouple exotherm"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]}},"sources":[{"claims_supported":["A thick 41-mm carbon/epoxy panel was instrumented with five through-thickness thermocouples to measure thermal gradients and exotherm.","The experiment produced about 25°C overshoot and validated a coupled cure model with about 1.8°C average absolute error.","Real-time constrained cure-temperature adjustment was demonstrated on a thick carbon/epoxy cable, with post-cure DSC assessment."],"publisher":"Cranfield University repository / Elsevier Journal of Manufacturing Processes","source_id":"SRC1","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","title":"Online optimisation and active control of the cure process of thick composite laminates","url":"https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/19003/1/Cure_process_of_thick_composite_laminates-2023.pdf"},{"claims_supported":["A physical emulator can combine thermal mass, insulation, temperature sensors, and an uncured-composite exotherm charge.","The device is intended to emulate the temperature gradient and exothermic behavior of a composite structure through a cure cycle.","The disclosure contemplates using emulator output to adjust cure temperature, ramp, or hold parameters."],"publisher":"The Boeing Company; patent text hosted by Justia","source_id":"SRC2","source_type":"OTHER","title":"Device for emulating temperature of an exothermic composite structure through a thermal cure cycle (US9304048)","url":"https://patents.justia.com/patent/9304048"},{"claims_supported":["Experimental thermal profiling with thermocouples is established composites-manufacturing practice and is often used before production qualification.","Pre-production profiling may use the real part or a representative part or charge.","The workflow defines lead, lag, exotherm, part, and proxy thermocouple locations and compares measurements with thermal specifications."],"publisher":"Composites Knowledge Network Knowledge in Practice Centre","source_id":"SRC3","source_type":"TRADE_PROFESSIONAL","title":"How to perform an experimental thermal profile - M102","url":"https://compositeskn.org/KPC/M102"},{"claims_supported":["NCAMP specifies fabrication and curing of qualification, equivalency, and acceptance test panels.","The prescribed autoclave cycles use panel and lagging-thermocouple temperatures, recorded vacuum and temperature data, and defined ramps and dwells.","The specification includes health-and-safety responsibility, cure abort criteria, quality assurance, inspection, and engineering-disposition provisions."],"publisher":"National Institute for Aviation Research / NCAMP","source_id":"SRC4","source_type":"OFFICIAL_STANDARD","title":"NPS 82014 Rev A: Fabrication of NMS 201 Qualification, Equivalency, and Acceptance Test Panels","url":"https://www.wichita.edu/industry_and_defense/NIAR/Documents/NPS-82014-Rev-A-7-12-2024-RM-2014-LDk-Tk-Process-Specification.pdf"}],"world_novelty_boundary":"This bounded public-web screen found direct technical and practice-level prior art, but it cannot establish world novelty, patentability, freedom to operate, market size, expert acceptance, or realized production value."}