First Ply Tack of an Automated Fibre Placement Process: Influence of heatable mould surface, release films and process parameters

During an automated manufacturing process of fibre reinforced plastics parts, material is laid up on a mould surface with Automated Fiber Placement technology. For this a sufficient tack between first ply and mould surface is important, especially for layups on vertical positioned moulds. With the aim of providing the highest possible tack, the influence of different parameters on the first ply tack was investigated. The influence of a heated mould surface on the tack was analysed by increasing the surface temperature in several steps up to 75°C. Both, a temporarily, as well as a permanently heated mould surface during the layup was investigated. In addition to that the tack between fibre material and six different release films were compared. Thereby, layup speed and power of an infrared heater were varied. These experiments provide important insights for the development of a reliable method for a layup process on a mould in vertical position. The selection of the release films showed an influence on the tack. Furthermore, an increase of tack could be determined, if the mould surface was heated. But also without a heated mould surface and for all tested release films, the tack was high enough for a reliable layup.