Design and Process Development of Thin-Ply Composites

This project evaluates automated tape placement (ATP) processing of thin ply composites, including process and design modeling, test panel fabrication and mechanical performance evaluation. Key to successful transition of standard ply to thin ply ATP processing is the ability to fabricate uniform high fiber volume and fiber distribution composite parts with below 1% void content. Our ATP robotic system will be adapted to handle thin ply materials, including accurate placement and consolidation to minimize potential defects (adjacent tape gaps creating voids, non-uniform compaction of plies, etc.). Existing modeling of the placement process at our academic partner will support hardware optimization. Coupon fabrication and testing will provide validation of the process to produce high quality parts and initiate the development of a property database (microstructure, mechanical performance, etc.).