Composite automated placement shows great potential for efficient manufacturing of large aviation components. In order to understand the effect of the contact between the compaction roller and the fiber/tape on the layup quality, it is necessary to study the contact characteristic of the compaction roller and the morphological change of the prepreg under the compaction roller. The contact of the compaction roller is divided into the static and dynamic contact. For the static contact, the contact model is simplified to a roller compaction on an elastic body with curved surfaces, and it is developed based on the elastic contact theory. On the contrary, a dynamic contact model is presented by simplifying the contact areas as idealized rectangular elements with identically sized elements. Due to the compaction roller exerting pressure on the prepreg, the morphology of the prepreg will change with different processing parameters. The deformation model of the prepreg is determined as the resin flows through a porous network of fibers by creep theory. A series of experiments had been conducted to verify feasibility and accuracy of the developed models. Results demonstrate that these models have good precision.

Automated fiber placement shows great potential for fabricating complex aircraft structures. During AFP process, the process-induced defects and placement trajectory have important effect on the processing quality. These defects and trajectory are influenced by many factors, where the attitude of compaction roller is an important factor. By the attitude fine-adjustment of compaction roller, the placement defects and trajectory can be improved. It is necessary to study the effect of the attitude fine-adjustment of compaction roller on placement defects and trajectory. The attitude includes yaw and roll of compaction roller, and the placement defects mainly refer to the fitness degree and fiber pull-up. Firstly, the placement ability of compaction roller is defined by making full use of the allowable distance. Then, the yaw angle and position of compaction roller are calculated by differential geometry. Meanwhile, the yaw distance and placement width are given. Secondly, the fiber pull-up is defined and described as planar sinusoidal based on the fiber waviness theory. Then the roll angle and position of compaction roller are given. Finally, a series of experiments and simulations had been conducted to verify the feasibility of the developed method. Results demonstrate that the method can improve the placement defects and trajectory.