Friction Experiments for Filament Winding Applications

Abstract

The design procedure of nongeodesic filament wound products requires well-determined values for the available friction situated between the applied roving and the supporting surface. In this paper, we propose a mandrel shape with a specially designed meridian profile that enables a linearly proportional relation between the feed eye carriage translation and the measured values for the coefficients of friction. As a result of this property, the optically or chronometrically obtained measurements can directly be translated into coefficients of friction. Additional features of this approach are the high accuracy, repeatability, low experimental costs, and simple machine control strategies. With the proposed mandrel, we performed several experiments corresponding to the variation of typical filament winding-related process parameters: fiber speed, roving tension, roving dimensions, wet versus dry winding, and surface quality of the mandrel. The results indicate that the surface quality of the mandrel and the type of winding process (wet vs. dry fibers) have a considerable influence on the obtained data. The influence of the fiber speed, roving tension, and fiber material on the other hand, is negligible.