Fibre angle prediction for post-forming of carbon fibre reinforced composite tubular structures

Mengyuan Li*, Chris Stokes-Griffin, Silvano Sommacal, Paul Compston

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper presents a model to predict local fibre angle change due to post-forming of [±60°]4 polyamide 6 carbon (CF/PA6) thermoplastic tubular structures. Fibre angles of the CF/PA6 tubes after forming are predicted based on the initial local fibre angles before forming within their bending zones. Four sets of [±60°]4 CF/PA6 tubes were uniformly heated to 220 °C and formed under isothermal conditions into 45°, 90°, 135° and 180° bends using a rotary draw bender with a bending ratio of 2. A model is derived to predict local post-forming fibre angle changes and validated by experimental fibre angle measurements taken both before and after forming with an optical measurement system. Additionally, micro computed tomography is performed to analyse post-formed tube geometries and determine post-forming strains. The fibre angle prediction model allows laminate mechanical analysis to be performed on post-formed tube, therefore enabling tube laminate design optimisation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number106948
    JournalComposites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
    Volume158
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

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