THE ROLE OF MELTING ON INTIMATE CONTACT DEVELOPMENT IN LASER-ASSISTED TAPE PLACEMENT OF CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES

Laser-assisted tape placement (LATP) and thermoplastic composites (TPCs) preimpregnated (prepreg) tapes are a promising combination of technologies, combining in-situ consolidation of the TPCs and the high degree of automation achievable with LATP. Laminate quality tends to decrease when increasing placement speed due to the shortening of heating and consolidation window. Such heating windows require high laser power to achieve the desired nip point temperature, which can hinder through-thickness temperature distribution within the incoming tape during the heating stage. The effect of placement speed, laser power and thermal conductivity model on the temperature and melt profile of tapes prior the compaction phase will be investigated through simulations for carbon fibre reinforced polyphenylene sulphide unidirectional tapes. Results show that significant through-thickness thermal gradients occur within a tape at high laser power; and the obtained gradients differ for each thermal conductivity model used.