ORIGINAL CONCEPTS OF PLY DROP CONFIGURATIONS FOR IMPROVED MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE IN TAPERED COMPOSITES
Topic(s) : Industrial applications
Co-authors :
Erfan KAZEMI (UNITED KINGDOM), Adam WHITEHOUSE (UNITED KINGDOM), Emile GREENHALGH (UNITED KINGDOM), Soraia PIMENTA (UNITED KINGDOM), James FINLAYSON , Silvestre TAVEIRA PINHO (UNITED KINGDOM)Abstract :
In the aerospace industry, there has been a shift towards using cost-effective manufacturing processes such as automated fibre placement (AFP) [1]. The precise arrangement of fibres/tapes by AFP significantly decreases material wastage by as much as 40%, leading to lower material costs and enhanced overall cost-effectiveness [1]. Additionally, the AFP method allows the possibility of manufacturing complex composite components with different layup configurations, resulting in improved overall mechanical performance of the structure.
Tapered composites constitute a type of feature that can be easily automated using AFP. These composites are used in several key aero-structural components, such as wings, helicopter rotors and engine fan blades to achieve weight-efficient structural performance and aerodynamic benefits due to experienced loads [2]. Tapered composite laminates exhibit changes in their thickness, achieved by terminating their plies during their manufacturing, commonly referred to as ply drops, Figure 1. One of the optimum manufacturing methods for terminating plies in tapered composites is the AFP.
Although current (conventional) AFP machines have the ability to lay down tapes (containing fibre reinforcements) at any angle to achieve optimum and complex layups, they cannot cut ends of the tapes at specific angles during the layups, see Figure 2. This can result in overlapping materials at the component edges during manufacturing, resulting in extra manufacturing steps and costs for trimming. Moreover, overlapping materials during ply drops in the tapered composites have been reported to suppress the mechanical performance of the structure [3]. Imperial College’s AFP machine (Figure 2) is unique in that it can cut tapes at an angle, leading potentially to ply drop configurations that exhibit an improved mechanical performance eventually for fan engine blade manufacturing, Figure 2 (b).
Thus, in this study, we design and introduce original concepts of ply drop configurations that exhibit an enhanced mechanical performance than conventional ply drops in carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. After designing and manufacturing CFRP tapered specimens containing new ply drop configurations, we subject them to several mechanical tests (namely tensile and indentation) to evaluate their performance and compare the results to traditional ply drop designs (without angled cuts in their dropped plies region). The results of this study will be presented at the conference.
Tapered composites constitute a type of feature that can be easily automated using AFP. These composites are used in several key aero-structural components, such as wings, helicopter rotors and engine fan blades to achieve weight-efficient structural performance and aerodynamic benefits due to experienced loads [2]. Tapered composite laminates exhibit changes in their thickness, achieved by terminating their plies during their manufacturing, commonly referred to as ply drops, Figure 1. One of the optimum manufacturing methods for terminating plies in tapered composites is the AFP.
Although current (conventional) AFP machines have the ability to lay down tapes (containing fibre reinforcements) at any angle to achieve optimum and complex layups, they cannot cut ends of the tapes at specific angles during the layups, see Figure 2. This can result in overlapping materials at the component edges during manufacturing, resulting in extra manufacturing steps and costs for trimming. Moreover, overlapping materials during ply drops in the tapered composites have been reported to suppress the mechanical performance of the structure [3]. Imperial College’s AFP machine (Figure 2) is unique in that it can cut tapes at an angle, leading potentially to ply drop configurations that exhibit an improved mechanical performance eventually for fan engine blade manufacturing, Figure 2 (b).
Thus, in this study, we design and introduce original concepts of ply drop configurations that exhibit an enhanced mechanical performance than conventional ply drops in carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. After designing and manufacturing CFRP tapered specimens containing new ply drop configurations, we subject them to several mechanical tests (namely tensile and indentation) to evaluate their performance and compare the results to traditional ply drop designs (without angled cuts in their dropped plies region). The results of this study will be presented at the conference.