Abstract:
Automated fiber placement (AFP) offers many advantages over current methods for polymer composite lamination. Because of its ability to produce large contoured parts and the capability for ply tailoring and hybrid parts, fiber placement technology provides an automated composite manufacturing technique once possible only with time-consuming hand lay-up.
It is Boeing's goal to develop a reliable fiber placement process by controlling the quality of the raw materials, the proper functioning of the machine, and the consistency of the processing conditions. In order to achieve this goal, several measurement methods have been incorporated into the overall design for an AFP machine.
Key processing variables to be monitored have been identified, prioritized and ultimately chosen by emphasizing proper machine operation and in-process quality assurance. These measurements include prepreg tow width, resin and fiber build-up, and temperature at crucial locations throughout the fiber placement head. Fiber optic imaging systems mounted before and after material application provide a qualitative measure of tow overlaps and gaps. Material and process conditions can be monitored in real-time and recorded to a dedicated data acquisition computer. The data collected from in-process sensors can be correlated to final part quality, thus providing valuable information for process development and for real-time quality assurance.
Source: Proceedings of the 'NDE applied to Process Control of Composite Fabrication' - Conference, 4-5 Oct 1994 St. Louis, Missouri. Publisher and Organizer: Nondestructive Testing Information Analysis Center (NTIAC) Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. Austin, Texas [http://www.ntiac.com] [Buying the Proceedings]
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