Advanced Ply Shape Generation in Composite Material Layup Using FEA-derived Fiber Information

Abstract

The current manufacturing process of commercial aerospace components using Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) fails to fully utilize the potential of composites, producing quasi-isotropic laminates. The design, computation, and path generation steps are isolated, requiring extensive design cycles and manual effort. To harness potential weight and cycle time reductions, new automated path planning processes are needed to optimize parameters like load path-compliant path planning and tape width variation. This paper presents a novel approach for the automatic and integrated generation of ply shapes based on stress results from Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for variable angle laminates manufactured using AFP. The proposed method aims to reduce manual effort, components weight and production time. The focus is on extracting FEA data to automatically identify regions of high stress and similar fiber properties. A segmentation technique is proposed, dividing the component into segments to generate tailored ply shapes that conform to complex geometries and curvature requirements. This method allows for flexible load path-compatible planning and high deposition rates without introducing defects due to limited fiber tape steering. Segmentation forms the basis for load path-optimized path planning, emphasizing the interplay between FEA data extraction and segmentation. The benefits in terms of cost and production time are demonstrated by applying the method to components in both simulation and real tests.