Influence of Automated Fiber Placement Parameters on Thermoplastic Composite Blanks Used on Stamp Forming Process
Résumé
In recent years, advanced manufacturing processes have been developed to increase the speed of production in order to reduce production costs. At the scale of thermoplastic composites, the translation is the combination of advanced manufacturing processes. The focus in this study is more specifically on the coupling of automated lay-up (AFP) and stamp forming processes. To date, a consolidation process, such as press-consolidation of thermoplastic composites, obtained blanks. Several trials have begun using an automated fiber placement consolidation to reduce manufacturing time and use unidirectional material. However, the combination of AFP and stamp forming is useful if it optimizes this process without the blank’s full consolidation, which by resulting reduces the manufacturing time. This study estimates blank characteristics through thermal history imposed by a more rapid manufacturing process. A set of blanks with varying process parameters is produced to investigate the influence at the microscopic scale. The interface behaviour is observed with optical microscope and image processing. A statistical study applied to the process is carried out in order to relate the material observations to the input parameters. The results of this study are used for the study of the next process of the combination: the stamp forming.