An inverse model for optimisation of laser heat flux distributions in an automated laser tape placement process for carbon-fibre/PEEK

C. M. Stokes-Griffin*, P. Compston

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    40 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    High power diode lasers have enabled higher placement rates to be achieved in automated tape placement (ATP) of thermoplastic-based composite materials. Laser ATP heads in published literature employ homogeneous linear or rectangular laser spots, however a variety of solutions are available to produce customised irradiance profiles. No efforts to date have investigated what a more ideal heat flux profile would be for laser ATP in terms of length and distribution. This paper describes a method to determine the required laser heat flux profiles to achieve desired heating zone temperature profiles by means of an inverse thermal model. A bonding model was implemented to assess the performance of various heating zone temperature profiles for placement at 400 mm/s. Short beam strengths from experimental trials (Stokes-Griffin and Compston, 2015) were used to validate the bonding model. A two-stepped heating profile was found to provide a good balance of increased strength with a small increase in power requirement.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)190-197
    Number of pages8
    JournalComposites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
    Volume88
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2016

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