PROCESSING GRAPHITE WITH PEEK USING A THERMOPLSTIC WELDING HEAD AND THE ROBOTIC WINDING SYSTEM (ROWS)

IT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THIS FIRM THAT FIBER REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES MATERIALS OFFER COST AND PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL THERMOSETTING MATERIALS. THE INDUSTRY IS GOING TO BE FACED WITH SEARCHING FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL FABRICATION TECHNIQUES THAT ARE AUTOMATED AND USE ADVANCED CONCEPTS IN CAD/CAM. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN EFFORT TO USE AVAILABLE PRE-PREG MATERIALS AND RESEARCH A TECHNIQUE FOR FABRICATING INTEGRALLY STIFFENED STRUCTURAL PREFORMS. THIS FIRM HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED THE TECHNIQUE ROWS FOR FILAMENT WINDING THERMOSET COMPOSITE MATERIALS USING A ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR, INTELLIGENT WINDING MECHANISM AND SOPHISTICATED CAD/CAM SOFTWARE PACKAGES. IT IS BELIEVED BY THE PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR OF THIS PROPOSAL THAT A THERMOPLASTIC WELDING HEAD CAN BE DESIGNED AND BUILT THAT WILL EFFECTIVELY PROCESS THERMOPLASTIC THROUGH AUTOMATION TOOLS ALREADY DEVELOPED BY THIS FIRM. FUTURE RESEARCH EFFORTS WILL FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING A ROBOTIC WORKCELL THAT WILL PROCESS THIS MATERIAL IN A PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT.