The Role of Compaction Roller in Defining the Layup Quality and Laminate Porosity in Robotic Fiber Placement

Abstract

The automated fiber placement has been commonly used to fabricate composite structures with high performance. However, the automated manufacturing process is limited by the developed defects in the final composite components. The current study focuses on the effect of the compaction roller's configurations and stiffness on the manufactured thermoset com-posites. The robotic fiber placement process is applied to fabricate different composite specimens. Several unidirectional and multi-axes specimens have been manufactured using 4 different rollers. The attitude of the compaction roller is also adjusted to be normal and to ensure uniform distribution of the compaction pressure. The surface quality of the manufactured components has been evaluated through image processing and detecting the layup defects. The scanning electron microscopy is used to estimate the change in the material porosity. The samples manufactured using a compliant and perforated roller included defects such as blisters, wrinkles, overlaps, and distortions. Additionally, the material porosity has been significantly improved when using the solid steel roller.