TY - JOUR
T1 - Morphology of ply drops in thermoplastic composite materials manufactured using laser-assisted tape placement
AU - Peeters, Daniël
AU - Deane, Michael
AU - O'Higgins, Ronan
AU - Weaver, Paul M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/11/1
Y1 - 2020/11/1
N2 - Mechanical properties of composite laminates can be tuned by either tailoring ply orientations or by using ply drops to change thickness profiles. The latter cause resin-rich pockets to form in thermoset composites that are autoclave cured after lay-down. This paper focuses on the morphology of ply drop regions with carbon fibre thermoplastic composites manufactured using in-situ consolidation with laser-assisted tape placement. Our work shows that when laying a 0° ply (parallel to the ply drop) over a ply drop then the ply readily conforms to the shape of the ply drop, eliminating voids. However, when a 90° ply covers a ply drop, the processing direction affects behaviour. When the ply ascends a ply drop, a void is created. On the other hand, when the ply descends a ply drop, the substrate changes its shape due to combined laser heat and roller pressure, leading to significantly smaller voids.
AB - Mechanical properties of composite laminates can be tuned by either tailoring ply orientations or by using ply drops to change thickness profiles. The latter cause resin-rich pockets to form in thermoset composites that are autoclave cured after lay-down. This paper focuses on the morphology of ply drop regions with carbon fibre thermoplastic composites manufactured using in-situ consolidation with laser-assisted tape placement. Our work shows that when laying a 0° ply (parallel to the ply drop) over a ply drop then the ply readily conforms to the shape of the ply drop, eliminating voids. However, when a 90° ply covers a ply drop, the processing direction affects behaviour. When the ply ascends a ply drop, a void is created. On the other hand, when the ply descends a ply drop, the substrate changes its shape due to combined laser heat and roller pressure, leading to significantly smaller voids.
KW - Automated fiber placement
KW - Defects
KW - Tape placement
KW - thermoplastic resin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087501379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112638
DO - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112638
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087501379
SN - 0263-8223
VL - 251
JO - Composite Structures
JF - Composite Structures
M1 - 112638
ER -