Experimental investigation of friction between prepreg tape and compaction roller for prepreg tape hoop winding

Abstract

As an inevitable issue in the filament winding technology, the process-induced friction has gained increasing attention. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the experimental investigation of friction between prepreg tape and hot compaction roller in prepreg tape hoop winding system. Based on the modified version of Howell’s equation, the friction model is established to offer an indirect method for measuring the frictional coefficient during the actual composite fabricating process. Three types of prepreg tapes, namely T300/Y69 unidirectional prepreg tape, T300/DFQS-3 and BWT260-82/DFQS-3 orthogonal prepreg tapes are selected to discuss the effect of process parameters on friction under different processing conditions. The experimental results reveal that the friction behavior transfers from resin-dominated friction to fiber-governed friction as the temperature rises. Besides, acceleration of the spindle speed on the frictional coefficient can be markedly improved due to the increase of resin strain rate. Meanwhile, the fiber has a stronger ability to increase friction than resin. It is also observed that the friction plays a role in amplifying the winding tension by comparing the winding tension with the outgoing winding tension.