Authors
Roudy Wehbe, Kevin Zimovan, William Montgomery, Christopher Sacco, Ramy Harik
Conference
CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Exp.
Abstract
Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is a form of advanced composites manufacturing widely used in the aerospace industry for its ability to create complex composite structures. One of the important process parameters in AFP concerns the compaction roller which controls the consolidation and compaction of the carbon fiber tows as they are placed. Sufficient compaction is essential for adhesion to the layup surface and overall layup quality. However, when manufacturing complex composite structures, compaction pressure applied by the roller is often not uniform due to changes in the local curvature of the layup surface or the presence of other surface features. Since the roller’s flat surface is interacting with the irregular layup surface, the axial deformation of the roller will be uneven, causing pressure deviations during application. This results in a decrease in tack level across the roller width, and possibly an increase in the number and severity of defects such as wrinkles and bridging. In this paper, a deeper understanding of the roller compaction is developed by investigating the relationship between different AFP input parameters such as variable levels of compaction force, layup speeds, and tool curvature. Experimentally, compaction force as well as layup speed were altered between tests on both flat and doubly curved tools, affecting the compaction pressure created by the roller. By utilizing pressure measurement films on the layup surface, exact pressure readings were extracted, correlated to the input parameters, and also compared with defects occurring in the manufactured layup. By correlating measurements of the pressure distribution, a deeper understanding of compaction roller variable force is developed thus allowing further improvements to the AFP process.
Keywords
Automated Fiber Placement, Roller, Defects, Process Parameters, Compaction
Citation
Roudy Wehbe, Kevin Zimovan, William Montgomery, Christopher Sacco, & Ramy Harik. (October 2021). Investigation Of The Influence Of Roller Compaction On Quality Of Defects In Automated Fiber Placement. CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo.
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