Automated fibre placement based composite structures: Review on the defects, impacts and inspections techniques

Abstract

Automated fibre placement (AFP) offers high throughput, efficient and accurate manufacturing methods for making multi-stiffened laminated composites. However, processing conditions, machine tolerances and steering of tape can induce small random defects within the laminate, which may compromise the structural integrity. Thus, this paper presents a comprehensive review on the processing/steering-induced defects in AFP and their influence on the quality of the final product. Three key processing parameters in AFP, specifically consolidation force, lay-up speed and curing/melting temperature are attempted elaborately. Additionally, the paper attempted to present the discussions on in-situ process monitoring as well as the Machine Learning (ML) based predictive models for AFP based composites.