Continuous assessment of geometrical properties from unidirectional fiber reinforced tapes

Fully impregnated thermoplastic tapes are one of the most promising materials. However, no standards for tape material and its properties are available. Thereby tape quality varies between manufacturers and can even vary within one tape spool. Changing properties can result in poor and inhomogeneous laminate quality. To overcome these obstacles, a module is developed to scan continuously the tape geometry. The module can be implemented within a manufacturing environment and provides key parameters for intimate contact modeling directly.