TY - JOUR
T1 - “Un-forming” fibre-steered preforms
T2 - Towards fast and reliable production of complex composites parts
AU - Sun, X C
AU - Belnoue, Jonathan P
AU - Wang, Wei-Ting
AU - Kim, Byung Chul
AU - Hallett, Stephen R
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by the feasibility study “Virtual un-manufacturing of fibre-steered preforms for complex geometry composites” of the EPSRC (The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom) Future Composites Manufacturing Hub ( EP/P006701/1 ) and the EPSRC platform grant “SIMulation of new manufacturing PROcesses for Composite Structures (SIMPROCS)”, ( EP/P027350/1 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/11/10
Y1 - 2021/11/10
N2 - Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) allows for efficient deposition of composite prepreg materials at large scale in a reliable and reproducible way, while keeping human effort to a minimum. However, the technique is not perfectly suited to manufacturing small/medium parts with complex geometries. Deviation between as-designed and as-manufactured parts is almost inevitable, as is the occurrence of process-induced defects. In this study, an alternative design and manufacturing process is proposed. Instead of depositing composite tapes directly onto the complex mould, a flat tailored preform made from steered fibre tows is created first, and then the flat preform is subsequently formed into a 3D complex shape. The fibre path in the flat tailored preform is derived from a new virtual ‘un-forming’ process of a complex 3D part design with target fibre paths. To demonstrate the process, a small doubly curved composite part was un-formed. Fibre-steered tailored preforms were created using the continuous tow shearing (CTS) technique and then formed into the target shape using double diaphragm forming. The as-manufactured part was compared with the as-designed part as well as a part manufactured from straight fibre prepreg. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the virtual un-forming process and the potential of proposed manufacturing route.
AB - Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) allows for efficient deposition of composite prepreg materials at large scale in a reliable and reproducible way, while keeping human effort to a minimum. However, the technique is not perfectly suited to manufacturing small/medium parts with complex geometries. Deviation between as-designed and as-manufactured parts is almost inevitable, as is the occurrence of process-induced defects. In this study, an alternative design and manufacturing process is proposed. Instead of depositing composite tapes directly onto the complex mould, a flat tailored preform made from steered fibre tows is created first, and then the flat preform is subsequently formed into a 3D complex shape. The fibre path in the flat tailored preform is derived from a new virtual ‘un-forming’ process of a complex 3D part design with target fibre paths. To demonstrate the process, a small doubly curved composite part was un-formed. Fibre-steered tailored preforms were created using the continuous tow shearing (CTS) technique and then formed into the target shape using double diaphragm forming. The as-manufactured part was compared with the as-designed part as well as a part manufactured from straight fibre prepreg. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the virtual un-forming process and the potential of proposed manufacturing route.
KW - Structural composites
KW - Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)
KW - Finite element analysis (FEA)
KW - Deformation
KW - Automated Fibre Placement
U2 - 10.1016/j.compscitech.2021.109060
DO - 10.1016/j.compscitech.2021.109060
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
SN - 0266-3538
VL - 216
JO - Composites Science and Technology
JF - Composites Science and Technology
M1 - 109060
ER -