Fiber Placement Process Expert System

Fiber placement has evolved into an accepted production process. As additional applications emerge and production rates increase, additional equipment must be brought on line to meet the demand. The major thrust of this research is to determine how composite parts could be effected when manufactured using different fiber placement machines. The Phase I program developed a software tool the Fiber Placement Expert System (FiPES)that contained machine attribute definitions, part feature descriptions, a machine database and demonstrated the capability to highlight the effect of various machine differences. The Phase II program will continue to mature the system and validate it through a series of simulations and hardware demonstrations.