A Digital Shadow for the Infrared-based Tape Laying Process of Tailored Blanks out of Thermoplastic Unidirectional Tape

Due to its benefits in creating load and waste optimized composites, the manufacturing of tailored composites blanks has gained increased attention in industry. The Fraunhofer IPT has developed an infrared (IR)-based, in-situ tape laying process of thermoplastic, unidirectional composite tape proving to be a material and cost efficient technology for producing tailored composite blanks. An important part in the in-situ process is finding optimal process parameters regarding high productivity and quality. Besides the optimization of process parameters, machine design as well as blank design including geometry and ply book involveprocess induced effects. Different fibre angles, amount of layers or insufficient radiation power can result in various defects of the blank, such as residual stresses or non-sufficient consolidation between layers. This study investigates how Digital Shadows (DS)help to characterize the IR-based tape laying process of different blank designs. DS for the tape laying process are created showing relevant parameters localised to its position within the laminate. A temperature sensor is integrated in order to attain data for process characterization. A straightforward design of experiments is conducted demonstrating temperature profiles as well as temperaturedependencies between the amount of layers and the size of the laminate.