Study of technological defects arising during automated laying of prepregs (review)

Abstract

Technologies of automated laying out of fibers (Automated Fiber Placement — AFP) and tapes (Automated Tape Laying — ATL) are used in the manufacture of blanks from polymer composite materials (PCM) for subsequent autoclave or other type of molding. The frequency of defect formation upon laying depends on the complexity of the certain part and the technological parameters (the tape width, speed of laying and idle time, temperature, deviations from the calculated trajectory, etc.). We present a review of the main defects thus formed along with the analysis of the reasons for their appearance and their effect on the physical and mechanical properties of composite materials. It is shown that the defects change the thickness and reduce the strength of the PCM under tension and compression. Moreover, the inaccuracy of fiber placement when using the AFP technology has a negative effect on the quality of the materials. The results presented can be used in the further study of the effect of defects on the PCM properties and reasons for defect formation, as well as in developing promising universal computational program that can provide reduction of the number of corresponding experimental tests.