Deconsolidation of thermoplastic prepreg tapes during rapid laser heating

Ozan Çelik*, Abhas Choudhary, Daniël Peeters, Julie Teuwen, Clemens Dransfeld

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
166 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In this study, the effect of rapid laser heating, which is typical during laser-assisted fiber placement (LAFP), on the micro- and meso- structure of the thermoplastic tape was investigated. Thermoplastic tapes were heated above the melting temperature with different heated lengths (30 and 80 mm and heating times (0.2 and 0.8 s) in a dedicated experimental setup. In-situ and ex-situ characterization techniques were used to observe the differences between the micro- and meso- structure of the tape before and after heating. The experiments resulted in significant changes in the tape structure, namely increased out-of-plane deformation, waviness, arc-length width, roughness, thickness and volumetric void content. This study shows for the first time that a unique deconsolidation behavior takes place during the heating phase of LAFP: the deconsolidation mechanisms are exacerbated by the non-uniform temperature at the tape surface, which is caused by roughness increase and waviness formation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number106575
JournalComposites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume149
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • A. Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)
  • B. Microstructures
  • D. Process monitoring
  • E. Automated fiber placement (AFP)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Deconsolidation of thermoplastic prepreg tapes during rapid laser heating'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this