IS AUTOMATED FIBER PLACEMENT TRULY FREE FROM DEFECTS IN THE ERA OF INDUSTRY 4.0?

Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) plays a significant role in advanced manufacturing, particularly in the aerospace and automotive industries. AFP technology is of benefit as it enables us to generate layups, based on optimum designs by fiber steering. The primary benefit of AFP is the lower cost through scrap reduction and improved production cycle time as opposed to hand layup methods. However, just as hand layup, AFP also suffers from inherent unintended imperfections. These imperfections could be due to multiple reasons, often the layup imperfections such as gaps and overlaps are studied but enough emphasis is not provided on the defects due to consolidation/curing. Optimized cure cycles are utilized to minimize residual stresses developed during curing, which could affect the mechanical performance of the composites. A continuum-based damage model called the “smeared crack approach” is used to conduct a progressive damage analysis on AFP fabricated coupons where the layup imperfections and consolidation defects are considered simultaneously.