Experimental fabrication and characterization of out-of-plane fiber waviness in continuous fiber-reinforced composites

This study presents the development of fabrication techniques and experimental measurements of out-of-plane fiber waviness in a continuous fiber-reinforced polymer composite. Literature on characterization and fabrication techniques was briefly reviewed. Three fabrication methods were developed: the transverse-strip method, ply-drop method, and constant-thickness ply-drop method. Experimental characterization demonstrated that specimens with a range of waviness parameters can be easily manufactured. The most important features of the techniques are ease of fabrication and simplicity of experimental setup. An industrial part was characterized optically to validate the techniques, showing a maximum misalignment angle of 5.3 degrees.