Abstract
Laser-assisted tape winding (LATW) is a highly automated process for manufacturing tubular-like fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as flywheels and pipes. One of the crucial parameters in the LATW process is the temperature of the nip point at which the incoming prepreg tape is bonded with the substrate by a compaction roller. Therefore, the temperature evolution of the nip point plays a significant role to have a proper consolidation at the tape-substrate interface. The nip point temperature is highly affected by the time-dependent geometry of the substrate and roller during continuous LATW of thick composite rings. In this paper, a critical assessment of the substrate and tape surface temperature evolution is investigated experimentally by means of a thermal camera during the LATW process of a 26-layers thick carbon/PEEK composites. A three-dimensional (3D) optical model is coupled with a thermal model in which the substrate computational domain is updated with respect to the deposited tapes. A good agreement is found between the measured and predicted tape and substrate temperatures. The total absorbed heat and heated length of the substrate and tape are described based on the roller deformation. An increase in tape and substrate nip point temperatures is found with an increase in roller deformation during consecutive winding. It is also found that the consolidation pressure and contact length at the roller-substrate interface increases during the winding process. Accordingly, the heat transfer coefficient at the roller-substrate interface is studied using the developed process model.
Highlights
Continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as C/PEEK are considered in potential applications where high mechanical performance and lightweight design are required for structural elements used in e.g. aerospace, aircraft or energy storage [24]
The local geometry change at the nip point vicinity affects the laser heat flux distribution calculated by the 3D optical model, e.g. the shadow area formed by the roller on the substrate reduces as the roller deformation increases
The anisotropic reflections of the incoming laser light were considered in the optical model
Summary
Continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as C/PEEK (carbon/poly ether-ether-ketone) are considered in potential applications where high mechanical performance and lightweight design are required for structural elements used in e.g. aerospace, aircraft or energy storage [24]. A parameter study is performed based on the heat transfer at the interface between the roller and substrate using the developed process model and results are compared with the temperature measurements.
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