Title: Towards Automated Control of Fibre Volume Content in Wet Filament Winding through Sensor-Based Process Analysis

Authors: Jannick Fuchs, Lukas Kneer, Jonathan Alms, Christian Hopmann

DOI:

Abstract: Type-IV hydrogen pressure vessels with an operating pressure of 70 MPa need to comply with a high safety factor of 2.0, a consequence of the high numbers of load cycles experienced over the product life cycle, and the statistical failure behaviour of carbon fibre reinforcement. In the field of wet filament winding, low viscosity thermoset matrices are utilised as a state-of-the-art material. However, it has been observed that these matrices can lead to variations in impregnation quality and inhomogeneous local fibre volume content in thick-walled laminates. The pressure gradient resulting from the applied fibre band tension exerts an outward force on the matrix during processing, thereby causing variations in the mechanical properties. The study presented here demonstrates a methodology for the capture of fibre band geometry within processing speeds of up to 2 m/s through the utilisation of a laser line sensor. This approach enables the assessment of resin loading from the wet filament winding process. A thermochemical and mechanical model is implemented for the purpose of predicting varying local fibre volume content for different filament winding process parameters. In conclusion, the validity of this model is confirmed through the extraction and subsequent image processing of microsections of the vessel laminate from the dome, transition and circumference areas. It has been demonstrated that fibre volume content can vary by up to 30 %, and the significant influence of the initial impregnation of the fibre band. The developed methodology has the potential to be utilised for the automated control of fibre volume content in the context of vessel manufacturing.

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Conference: SAMPE 2026

Publication Date: 2026/04/27

SKU: 197

Pages: 16

Price: $32.00