Multi-tow shearing mechanism for high-speed manufacturing of variable angle tow composites

An innovative tow steering technique using shear deformation characteristics of the dry tow material has been developed to minimize the process-induced defects by changing the most fundamental way of handling tow materials of all conventional AFP techniques, and was named as ‘CTS (Continuous Tow Shearing)’. The objective of this research was to improve the productivity of the CTS process by using the stitched unidirectional non-crimped fabric (NCF) with multiple carbon tows rather than a single carbon tow and eliminating the in-situ impregnation process with slow process speed. A prototype of the CTS head module with a wide feed mechanism for the NCF and the resin film was developed and installed on a prepreg cutting machine for process validation.