DEVELOPMENTS IN ON-LINE PROCESSING EQUIPMENT OF THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES

Abstract

Abstract: Autoclave technologies are becoming the technical bottlenecks to manufacture very large aerospace crafts. On the other hand, on-line consolidation technologies are becoming the research priorities in the field of out-of autoclave process. However, the properties of the thermoplastic composites generated from the on-line consolidation technologies are 80% of the properties generated from the autoclave technologies. The solution to eliminate the 20% gap between the on-line consolidation and the autoclave technologies is making breakthroughs on manufacturing heat-assisted placement heads. As a result, we can eliminate or decrease the disadvantage effect on the properties of the thermoplastic composites from manufacturing sides. This paper introduced the researches and developments of the processing equipment for thermoplastic composites. We compared the advantages and disadvantages of the main heat-assisted placement heads, namely gas-assisted placement heads and laser-assisted placement heads. Based on the results from previous experiments, we proposed the technical indexes of the laser-assisted placement heads and then summed up the practical problems need to be solved for the on-line consolidation technologies.

Key words: thermoplastic, composites, on-line, equipment, placement-head

CLC Number:

TB332

QIN Ying-jie, HAN Jian-ping, ZHAO Kai. DEVELOPMENTS IN ON-LINE PROCESSING EQUIPMENT OF THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES[J]. Fiber Reinforced Plastics/Composites, 2019, 0(5): 116-120.

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