Fibre placement technologies
Project leader
Dr.ir. Otto Bergsma
Dr.ir. Harald Bersee
PhD. student
Ir.ing. Sotiris Koussios
Researcher
Ing. Sebastiaan Lindstedt
Contactperson
Ir.ing. Sotiris Koussios
Summary
This research project is mainly associated with the design- and development of filament wound products, especially in relation with the selected materials for application and the associated production process performance.
The main objective of the corresponding research activities can be formulated in terms of providing a unified, integrated methodology where the design, materials selection and implemented production equipment configuration are adjusted to each other on such a manner that the optimal solution becomes achievable. The term 'optimal' reflects in this case on either weight-, production time- and / or costs minimisation. An additional optimisation target can be formulated in terms of product performance maximisation. Summarising, the main scope of this project is the creation of a transparent, preferably analytical design- and simulation tool whereby the influences of various parameters (like wound shape geometry and applied material properties) on the final product performance become clear and predictable. The project can roughly be divided into four categories:
1. Design: pressure vessels, hydrostatic containers, articulated inflatable structures and struts, eventually with external loads and under consideration of the laminate thickness variation due to fibre stacking.
2. Applied fibre bundle materials- and morphology.
3. Fibre path determination: geodesics, slippage tendencies, winding patterns, inclusion of fibre stacking, curvatures- and torsion distribution.
4. Kinetics: required winding machine movements- and configurations, fibre- and machine part accelerations, fibre tensioners.
An additional project item is the inclusion of broad stiff fibre bundles (tapes), placed on double curved surfaces. This extension is believed to create a link between filament winding, tape placement and press forming.
