Non-conventional Composite Laminates – Clutch Laminates

Abstract

This paper presents the design and manufacturing of novel non-conventional woven composite laminates coined as clutch laminates. Carbon/epoxy clutch laminates are manufactured using prepreg slit tape in an automated fiber placement (AFP) machine. The AFP process allows tailoring the material architecture resulting in innovative structures without the need for any loom. For instance, the thermal behavior of the laminate may be designed such that warping after curing is significantly minimized compared to a traditional asymmetric laminate. We study the thermal and mechanical stiffness behavior as an example where the clutch laminate lay-up pattern is represented with a simple smart meshing approach utilizing 2D shell elements where the tows are deposited onto the regions mimicking the AFP machine course. The results show that warpage for the clutch laminate is significantly smaller compared to the conventional asymmetric laminate. However, clutch laminates pose a significant challenge in predicting the deformation, damage and impact behavior.