Effects of tow-to-tow gaps in composite laminates fabricated via automated fiber placement

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 66-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Guin ◽  
Justin R. Jackson ◽  
Cameron M. Bosley
Keyword(s):  
Composite Laminates ◽  
Fiber Placement ◽  
Automated Fiber Placement

scholarly journals Experimental Investigation on the Influence of Fiber Path Curvature on the Mechanical Properties of Composites

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2602
Author(s):  
Huaqiao Wang ◽  
Jihong Chen ◽  
Zhichao Fan ◽  
Jun Xiao ◽  
Xianfeng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Tensile Strength ◽  
Path Planning ◽  
Composite Laminates ◽  
Bending Strength ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Bending Test ◽  
Fiber Placement ◽  
Automated Fiber Placement ◽  
Fiber Path ◽  
Path Curvature

Automated fiber placement (AFP) has been widely used as an advanced manufacturing technology for large and complex composite parts and the trajectory planning of the laying path is the primary task of AFP technology. Proposed in this paper is an experimental study on the effect of several different path planning placements on the mechanical behavior of laminated materials. The prepreg selected for the experiment was high-strength toughened epoxy resin T300 carbon fiber prepreg UH3033-150. The composite laminates with variable angles were prepared by an eight-tow seven-axis linkage laying machine. After the curing process, the composite laminates were conducted by tensile and bending test separately. The test results show that there exists an optimal planning path among these for which the tensile strength of the laminated specimens decreases slightly by only 3.889%, while the bending strength increases greatly by 16.68%. It can be found that for the specific planning path placement, the bending strength of the composite laminates is significantly improved regardless of the little difference in tensile strength, which shows the importance of path planning and this may be used as a guideline for future AFP process.

Induced defect layer method to characterize the effect of fiber tow gaps for the laminates manufactured by automated fiber placement technique

2021 ◽  
pp. 002199832110316
Author(s):  
Mohammadhossein Ghayour ◽  
Mehdi Hojjati ◽  
Rajamohan Ganesan
Keyword(s):  
Composite Laminates ◽  
Composite Structures ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Defect Layer ◽  
Damage Analysis ◽  
Manufacturing Defects ◽  
Fiber Placement ◽  
Layer Method ◽  
Automated Fiber Placement

Automated manufacturing defects are new types of composite structure defects induced during fiber deposition by robots. Fiber tow gap is one of the most probable types of defects observed in the Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) technique. This defect can affect the structural integrity of structures by reducing structural strength and stiffness. The effect of this defect on the mechanical response of the composite laminates has been investigated experimentally in the literature. However, there is still no efficient numerical/analytical method for damage assessment of composite structures with distributed induced gaps manufactured by the AFP technique. The present paper aims to develop the Induced Defect Layer Method (IDLM), a new robust meso-macro model for damage analysis of the composite laminates with gaps. In this method, a geometrical parameter, Gap Percentage (GP), is implemented to incorporate the effect of induced-gaps in the elastic, inelastic, and softening behavior at the material points. Thus, while the plasticity and failure of the resin pockets in conjunction with intralaminar composite damages can be evaluated by this method, the defective areas are not required to be defined as resin elements in the Finite Element (FE) models. It can also be applied for any arbitrary distributions of the defects in the multi-layer composite structures, making it a powerful tool for continuum damage analysis of large composite structures. Results indicate that the proposed method can consider the effect of gaps in both elastic and inelastic behavior of the composite laminate with defects. It also provides good agreement with the experimental results.

Experimental and numerical investigation on the open-hole compressive strength of AFP composites containing gaps and overlaps

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (26) ◽  
pp. 3631-3646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aymen Marouene ◽  
Pierre Legay ◽  
Rachid Boukhili
Keyword(s):  
Compression Strength ◽  
Composite Laminates ◽  
Composite Structures ◽  
Progressive Failure ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Consolidation Process ◽  
Fiber Placement ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Open Hole ◽  
Automated Fiber Placement

Laminated composite structures manufactured via the automated fiber placement process inherently contain process defects know as gaps and overlaps. These defects raise concerns when they are located on or near holes intended for mechanical fastening. This investigation attempts to predict the effect of automated fiber placement-generated defects on the open-hole compression strength by combining both experimental tests and numerical simulation. Tested open-hole compression specimens containing gaps and overlaps oriented at 0° or 90° and centered on or shifted near the hole show that, depending on their location, the gaps and overlaps may have negative, negligible, or positive effects on the open-hole compression strength. The better than expected effects are compatible with microscopic observations that clearly show the rearrangement of the plies during the consolidation process, which prevent the formation of deleterious discontinuities. Incorporating these observations in a numerical model, which simulates gaps and overlaps embedded inside the composite laminates, and applying a progressive failure analysis, confirms that the effects of automated fiber placement defects depend as much on their type as on their location relative to the hole center. Finally, the results obtained from a parametric study provided further explanation on the effects of automated fiber placement defects on the failure strength of perforated composite laminates.

Automated Fiber Placement of Composite Wind Tunnel Blades: Process Planning and Manufacturing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramy Harik ◽  
Joshua Halbritter ◽  
Dawn Jegley ◽  
Ray Grenoble ◽  
Brian Mason
Keyword(s):  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Process Planning ◽  
Fiber Placement ◽  
Automated Fiber Placement
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