Title: Characterisation of Defects in Strand-Based Thermoplastic Composite Parts Using Ultrasonic Inspection

Authors: " Hanae Pattery, Adam Smith, Arthur Pik, Jean-Philippe Canard, Ilyass Tabiai, Martine Dubé"

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/s.24.0163

Abstract: Strand-based compression moulding compounds are increasingly used in both the aerospace and automotive industries, as they offer an interesting compromise between processability and performance. Non-destructive inspection via ultrasonic scan is often used to assess the internal quality of composite structures, revealing the size and location of defects such as voids, delamination and foreign body contamination. However, the heterogeneous structure of strand-based composite components makes it difficult to obtain meaningful results using this method. Therefore, ultrasonic inspection is complemented using optical microscopy and photographs. The aim of this paper is to correlate c-scan data to manufacturing defects. During the production of pre-impregnated thermoplastic composite textiles known as prepregs, the edges exhibit unacceptable variations in thickness and fibre content. These edges are trimmed and these scraps of prepregs carbon fibre with polyetheretherketone are landfilled. This waste, referred to here as tape edge trim (TET), resembles traditional strands but comes in a variety of shapes and lengths. Compression-moulded panels were made from TET strands of similar length obtained through sieving. The panels underwent the analyses mentioned above. It appears that resin concentration areas and out-of-plane TET strands orientation prevail in panels made with smaller strands.

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Conference: SAMPE 2024

Publication Date: 2024/05/20

SKU: TP24-0000000163

Pages: 10

Price: $20.00