DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED DESIGN AND AUTOMATED FIBER PLACEMENT SYSTEM

THE OPPORTUNITY IS TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN SYSTEM FOR COMPOSITE PARTS WITH COMPLEX SHAPES WHICH INTEGRATES ADVANCED MATERIALS MODELING TECHNIQUES, STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION AND AUTOMATED SOFTWARE FOR MANUFACTURING PROCESS DEVELOPMENT. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL EXPLORE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGIES WHICH INTEGRATE COMPOSITE MATERIALS DESIGN METHODS WITH ROBOTICS MANIPULATOR CODE FOR CONTROLLING FIBER PLACEMENT PATHS ON A SHELL STRUCTURE OF COMPLEX SHAPE. FIBER PLACEMENT IS A TECHNIQUE WHICH CAN PRODUCE COMPOSITE PARTS OF COMPLEX SHAPE AND REINFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE WHILE MAINTAINING FIBER VOLUMES, STIFFNESS AND STRENGHTS WHICH ARE ACHIEVED IN SIMPLE FILAMENT WOUND GEOMETRIES. THE APPROACH IS TO USE PHYSICALLY BASED ANALYTICAL MATERIALS MODELS FOR CONTINUOUS FIBER COMPOSITES AND STRUCTURAL MECHANICS METHODS TO ESTABLISH FIBER ARCHITECTURES WHICH MEET DESIGN GOALS FOR A THERMOPLASTIC MATRIX COMPOSITE SHELL STRUCTURE WITH PROTRUDING FINDS. THE PHASE I DEVELOPMENT EFFORT WILL FOCUS ON A SPECIFIC PART DESIGN AND TRANSFORMING THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS INTO FIBER PATHS WHICH CAN BE FOLLOWED BY A ROBOTICS MANIPULATOR. A SMALL SCALE DEMONSTRATION ARTICLE WILL BE FABRICATED. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: TO MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT ON DEFENSE A COMMERCIAL MARKETS, ADVANCED COMPOSITES MUST BECOME MOST COST COMPETITIVE. INTEGRATION OF MATERIALS ANALYSIS, STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS WILL LEAD TO RELIABLE COST EFFECTIVE APPLICATIONS OF COMPOSITES FOR STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS.