Authors
Roudy Wehbe, Anis Baz Radwan, Christopher Sacco, Mazen A. Albazzan, Ramy Harik
Conference
in CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, 2020.
Abstract
Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is a flexible manufacturing technique which allows the manufacturing of complex layups where steered paths are necessary to achieve the surface coverage. For this work, steered paths on a cylindrical tool are considered due to their structural advantages such as local reinforcement and tailoring of the properties of the part. However, steering on cylinders also introduces a range of challenges in terms of quality and productivity. When steering a carbon fiber tow, the mismatch in length between the curved path on the tool and the straight tow may cause large scale deformations such as wrinkles on the compressive edge of the tow and folds or tow pull ups on the tensile edge. The quality of AFP layup is highly dependent on the manufacturing process parameters such as layup temperature, head speed, compaction force and tow tension as well as the geometry and the curvature of the path. Understanding how those parameters affect the process is crucial for achieving the desirable quality of the final part. In this paper, the optimal process window which allow for the successful production of steered paths on a cylindrical tool is determined experimentally, while developing a clear understanding of the individual and combined effects of the process parameters on the formation of tow-steered defects through in-situ monitoring of the process parameters and image analysis of the produced layups.
Keywords
automated fiber placement, process parameters, carbon fiber prepreg, steering, cylinder
Citation
Roudy Wehbe, Anis Baz Radwan, Chris Sacco, Mazen Albazzan and Ramy Harik, “Experimental investigation of the process parameters for AFP manufacturing of steered paths on a cylindrical surface,” in CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, 2020.
Link:
Documents