Thermoplastic filament winding—an experimental investigation of the on-line consolidation of poly(ether imide) fit preforms

The development of industrial-scale manufacturing techniques for thermoplastic composites requires new processing technologies. The filament winding of thermoplastic preforms, such as powder-impregnated or intermingled yarns, would be more economical than winding of thermosets, if similar fibre placement speeds could be achieved for similar costs of equipment and preforms. The present experimental work compares two different processing techniques based on hot air and short wave infra-red spot heating, and discusses the influence of preheating the preforms and mandrel. The research work is based on powder-impregnated poly(ether imide) preforms, which are processed to hoop wound tube specimens. These preforms were commercialized under the trade name FIT (Fibres Impregnated with Thermoplastic) in the early 1980s. Characterization of the laminate quality is based on micrographs. The results show the importance of continuous heating at low heating rate. Discontinuous temperature peaks above the matrix melting temperature lead to its thermal degradation and therefore to poor laminate quality.