Xenon flashlamp based in-situ automated fiber placement of thermoplastic composites

Kurzfassung

Thermoplastic automated fiber placement is a highly automated, lean manufacturing process and with in-situ consolidation may lead to wider distribution of advanced composites. An opportunity for flexible, cost-effective production of aerospace components is found in the usage of new heating systems such as the pulsed xenon flashlamp, since it renders the use of complete safety housing unnecessary. In this work, a flashlamp heating system is characterized by a process parameter study and compared to laser assisted AFP (LAFP). The flashlamp system does not include a closed-loop controller to precisely adjust the nip point temperature, thus the impact of the tunable input parameters on the nip point temperature is investigated. Subsequently the laminate quality is examined, using single-lap shear specimen. The trials show that flashlamp heating is not yet able to compete with LAFP in terms of lay-down rates and shear strengths. Still, with modifications to the system it may be a promising approach.