Parametric Study on Heat Transfer for Tow Placement Process of Thermoplastic Composite

Abstract

Fiber placement process of thermoplastic material is an in situ consolidation process which can significantly reduce consolidation process time and save costs compared with autoclave consolidation. The heat and crystallization behaviours play very critical role in the quality control during the process. In this work, two dimensional model of finite element is presented to perform heat transfer analysis of fiber placement process. The relationship between heat distribution of lamination and process parameters, including roller velocity, main heating temperature, preheating temperature, preheating length and preheating location, is deeply investigated. The numerical results show that for certain heating temperature there is a safe roller velocity which should not be exceeded, and such parameters as main heating length, preheating length and preheating location could be optimized to obtain better quality of product.

Processing of thermoplastic matrix composites through automated fiber placement and tape laying methods

“…22,23,42,127,128 Furthermore, AS4/PEEK tapes produced by TenCate Advanced Composites were also used. 20,55,70,101 There are different other materials being used and investigated in the literature, such as CF/polyphenylene sulphide (PPS), 50 –52,75,83,84,100,129,130 CF/polyamide (PA), 48,131,132 CF/poly-ether-imide (PEI), 15,54,133 –136 CF/poly-ether-PEKK, 58,75,130,137 –141 glass fiber (GF)/polypropylene (PP), 21,26,80,142 –145 GF/PA66, 126 and GF/PPS. 83,144 It is obvious that the vast majority of the work on ATP involves CF/PEEK prepregs.…”

“…12 Hot gas heating can be very effective in achieving high temperatures; however, due to its convective heat transfer mechanism—considered to have a long dynamic response time—these systems are characterized by wasting a lot of energy which lowers their heating efficiency and reduces the process control response in a way that achieving the required full production rates becomes challenging. 12,10,13,26,32,128 In terms of hot gas torch systems, air, as a gas, was used in few studies 82,136,143 ; however, the vast majority of the studies were based on nitrogen gas in which the setups were either having a single torch 27,36 –38,44,54 –56,60,63,64,67,70,79,81,83,85,105,110,119,146,147 or two torches. 25,30,31,33,43,57 –59,69,138,148 The NASA LaRc heated head automated thermoplastic tape placement (HHATP) includes four methylacetylene propadiene (MAPP) gas combustion torches (preheaters) and a mini gas torch to rapidly heat both tape surfaces at the contact point to the process temperature.…”

“…The single roller design, however, is by far the most common available setup in the literature. 10,12,13,16 –19,22 –24,27,31,39 –42,44,50,53,54,62,64,66,73,75,79 –84,95,96,105,109,128,130 –132,136,143,147,148,168…”

“…The most common material used for compaction rollers is steel 20,25,30,31,33,36 –38,43,44,54 –56,61 –64,73,74,79,81,84,95,105,109,130 –132,136,138,142,143,147,148,150,168 with stainless steel grade being specified in few works. 19,27,127,128 Some enhancements in the placement process were achieved by introducing silicone rubber rollers which can be used on complex shapes due to their high deformability.…”

“…10 A closely related process, derived from filament winding, is the tape winding process, which has a low-cost setup without a robotic or gantry-mounted head, and involves a mandrel/tool having a cylindrical shape so that circular rings can be processed. Both flat laminates 9,10,13,16,17,19,21,22,25,30,31,33,35 –69 and circular rings 20,55,70,71 –84 were investigated as well as elliptical rings. 76 Although a promising technique, ATP process still has many challenges to be overcome before it can be ful...…”