Application of Taguchi method for process enhancement of on-line consolidation technique

Abstract

During laser assisted processing of thermoplastic composites, the individual effects of laser power, tape speed and consolidation pressure on the interply bond strength cannot be easily separated unless a large number of experiments is carried out. Because the properties of an end product depend upon the selection of processing conditions, it is essential that the conditions under which a well consolidated part is obtained should be defined. To investigate the effects of individual process parameters from a minimum number of tests, the Taguchi method is applied. For this investigation, PEEK/carbon fibre (APC-2) thermoplastic composite rings were manufactured by a thermoplastic tape winding process at selected conditions, and the influence of dominant process parameters on interply bond strength was evaluated. The influence of three dominant factors, namely laser power, consolidation pressure and tape speed, on bond strength were investigated. The experimental design involved using L 9 orthogonal arrays, and the percentage contribution of each factor to the quality of bonding was estimated by the ANOVA technique.