Predicting and Improving Interlaminar Bonding Uniformity during the Robotic Fiber Steering Process

Pan Zhao; Bijan Shirinzadeh; Xiaodong He; Jian Guo; Kaining Shi; Biyao Qiang; Qichao Jin; Fengping Li

doi:10.3390/polym15010019

Predicting and Improving Interlaminar Bonding Uniformity during the Robotic Fiber Steering Process

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Dec 21;15(1):19. doi: 10.3390/polym15010019.

Authors

Pan Zhao^{1

2}, Bijan Shirinzadeh³, Xiaodong He⁴, Jian Guo⁵, Kaining Shi², Biyao Qiang², Qichao Jin⁶, Fengping Li⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Technology, Xi'an Mingde Institute of Technology, Xi'an 710124, China.
² School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
³ Robotics and Mechatronics Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne 3800, Australia.
⁴ School of Mechanical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China.
⁵ College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Road Construction Technology and Equipment of MOE, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710061, China.
⁷ Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics Intelligent Manufacturing, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325000, China.

Abstract

With their high specific stiffness, corrosion resistance and other characteristics, especially their outstanding performance in product weight loss, fiber-reinforced resin matrix composites are widely used in the aviation, shipbuilding and automotive fields. The difficulties in minimizing defects are an important factor in the high cost of composite material component fabrication. Fiber steering is one of the typical means of producing composite parts with increased strength or stiffness. However, fiber waviness is an important defect induced by fiber steering during the fiber placement process. Meanwhile, the laying speeds of the inner and outer tows along the path width direction are different during the fiber steering process, resulting in different interlaminar bond strengths. Therefore, the fiber waviness and uneven interlaminar bonding strength during fiber steering not only affect the dimensions of a composite product, but also influence the mechanical properties of the part. This study aims to reduce fiber waviness and improve interlaminar bonding uniformity along the path width direction using a multi-piece compaction roller. By analyzing the mechanism of the generation of fiber waviness, the interlaminar bonding strength for each tow during fiber steering is investigated. Through analyzing and optimizing the compaction force, laying temperature and laying velocity during fiber steering experiments, the optimization approach is verified.

Keywords: fiber waviness; interlaminar bonding uniformity; robotic fiber steering process.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Key Laboratory of Road Construction Technology and Equipment (Chang’an University), MOE (Grant No. 300102251504), the Natural Science Basic Re-search Program of Shaanxi (Grant No. 2023-JC-YB-431), the Aeronautical Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 2020Z045053001), the Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi University (2022), the Scientific Research Fund of Xi’an Mingde Institute of Technology (Grant No. 2022XY02L04), the Pedagogical Reform and Research Fund of the Xi‘an Mingde Institute of Technology (Grant No. JG2022ZD03), the Wenzhou Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Project (Grant No. ZR2022001), the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 2022C01058) and the Wenzhou Municipal Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. ZG2020036).