Title: NON-PLANAR DEFECTS FORMATION USING DIFFERENT COMPACTION ROLLERS DURING AUTOMATED FIBRE PLACEMENT

Authors: Meisam Kheradpisheh, Mehdi Hojjati

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/s.23.0338

Abstract: Despite the great potential of automated fibre placement (AFP), its applications are limited by presence of some induced manufacturing defects. These defects are formed in the prepreg tows during the manufacturing and placement of fibres, reducing the quality of layups. Fibre steering as one of the advantages of AFP can be used to perform layup on top of complex geometry and to manufacture variable stiffness structures. The effect of different types of rollers on the quality of steered prepreg tows have been investigated. The focus will be on non-planar defects (out-of-plane wrinkle and blister) formation during the steered layup process. To steer prepreg tows along circular paths, five types of compaction rollers with different stiffness, durometer and materials were employed. In all cases, the radius of steered prepreg tows was 75 cm (29 Inches). For each roller, the experiments were conducted at two stages. First, each roller placed prepreg tows in five different circular paths with the same radius. Then, for second stage, the roller was passed over each previously placed prepreg tows without placing any additional tows (named repass). In each stage, the position, height, and wavelength of non-planar defects formed in each tow were measured. In addition, surface roughness, contact length and strain of each roller were also examined. Moreover, the effect of each roller on thickness and arrangement of fibres was investigated using microscopy. Several micrographs were taken along the thickness of the towpregs created by different rollers to study changes in thickness and arrangement of fibres in lay-ups. The experimental observations for each roller were compared to each other. The results illustrate that the rollers higher stiffness (steel roller) creates the steered layups with higher quality. However, the change in height and wavelength of non-planar defects in second stage (repass process) occur only in rollers with the least stiffness (polyurethane roller).

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Conference: SAMPE 2023

Publication Date: 2023/04/17

SKU: TP23-0000000338

Pages: 9

Price: $18.00