Numerical simulation at the micro-scale for the heat transfer modelling in the thermoplastic composites laser-assisted AFP process

Abstract

Laser-assisted Automated Fibre Placement for thermoplastic composites has shown its potential to process complex shaped parts with high productivity rates but many challenges, both physical and technical, still need to be addressed in order to achieve proper in-situ consolidation. Ensuring high quality bonding of the laid tapes relies on perfect control of their thermal history throughout the process, and heat transfer has long proven essential to achieve this. Numerous heat transfer models account for optical interaction between the laser and composite at a macroscopic scale. Here, a thermo-optical model at the micro-scale is designed and differentiates the fibres from matrix domain, accounting for their respective properties. A single tape is modelled in a static configuration. Based on a composite material realistic microstructure, a ray-tracing algorithm highlights the laser heat absorption depth dependency to laser incidence angle and fibre distribution. Numerical surface temperatures are compared to experimental data obtained with a specific set-up leading to an overall accurate approximation. Finally, the microstructure model relevance is assessed with 1D homogenised models considering either ideal surface heating or a volumetric heat source. The surface heating model leads to inaccurate approximation of surface temperatures, whereas volumetric heat source absorption substantially limits temperature errors. As a result, this model gives a satisfactory compromise between model complexity, computational time and temperature prediction.