Exploration on the Application of Composite Material Filament Winding Molding Process
Space Shuttle
One of the most famous examples of filament winding in the aerospace industry is the main fuel tank of the Space Shuttle. This massive tank weighs nearly 140,000 pounds and is made from a composite material where the filaments are wound around a mandrel. The tank’s complex design was critical to the success of the Space Shuttle program as it provided the necessary strength and weight to withstand the rigors of space travel.
ACPT’s Carbon Fiber Composite Driveshafts are used in a Variety of Industries
From the skies to the racetrack, filament winding is also used to create high-performance sports equipment. The strength and durability of filament wound composites make them ideal for use in racing parts, such as driveshafts and suspension components. In addition, the customizability of filament winding allows manufacturers to create unique shapes and designs, optimized for optimal performance.
Filament Winding in the Marine Industry
Basic Winding of Fiberglass Polyester Poles
Filament winding is also making a splash in the marine industry, where it is used to create a range of products from boat hulls to mooring poles.
The strength and durability of filament wound composites make them ideal for use in harsh marine environments where corrosion and abrasion are common challenges.
One of the most creative applications of filament winding in the marine industry is the creation of custom fishing rods. The use of filament winding technology allows manufacturers to create unique, lightweight, and high-strength fishing rods that are optimized for specific types of fishing. Whether you are trolling for marlin or casting for trout, filament winding helps create a better fishing experience for anglers around the world.
Complex Shape Structures with Fiber Winding
Since the 1990s, the automated filament winding process has been used to create complex structures other than cylindrical shapes. Advances in technology have enabled the production of a variety of non-cylindrical designs such as toroidal, domed cylindrical, and isoprenoid pressure vessels. Filament winding methods are also used to create items such as pipe elbows and tees, preforms for manufacturing, lattice structures, aerospace components, automotive bumper frames, hockey sticks, aircraft radomes, helicopter blades, wind turbine blades, and aircraft fuselages.
Pressure Vessels
The use of filament wound pressure vessels is already widespread in the aerospace and transportation industries, with estimated global production of hundreds of thousands of units per year. The automotive industry also has a growing demand for low-pressure vessels for natural gas storage (35 MPa) and high-pressure vessels for hydrogen and compressed natural gas storage (70 MPa).
Tube Fittings
Filament wound tubing has been used in the chemical and petroleum industries since the 1980s. Automated production has been possible since the 1990s with the development of advanced CNC winding machines with 6 or more axes. Generating winding patterns for non-axisymmetric shapes is challenging due to the high data processing requirements.
Motor Case
Filament-wound composite structures are widely used in aerospace components such as rocket engine cases due to their high strength and specific stiffness, thereby reducing weight and improving fuel efficiency. Filament winding of rocket engine cases began in 1960, and while it generally involves axisymmetric case designs, the dome region of such cases can have complex geometries and material properties that require precise manufacturing control.
Traditional Classification of Windings
- Peripheral Winding: The filaments are wound around the circumference of the tool.
- Cross Winding: The filaments are wound between the gaps of the tool.
o Uniaxial Cross Winding
o Uniaxial Peripheral Winding
o Multiaxial Cross Winding
o Multiaxial Cross Winding
For example, uniaxial perimeter winding is often used to make rotating parts. Whereas uniaxial translational winding is often used to create two-dimensional frame structures. To achieve three-dimensional truss structures, multiaxial winding is necessary to prevent fiber slippage when the winding rods are out of plane.
(A) Uniaxial cross winding;
(B) Uniaxial peripheral winding;
(C) Multiaxial cross winding;
(D) Multiaxial cross winding
Traditional Filament Winding
Filament winding is a technique used primarily to manufacture hollow, round, or prismatic parts such as pipes and tanks. It is accomplished by winding a continuous fiber tow onto a rotating mandrel using a specialized winding machine. Filament wound parts are commonly used in the aerospace, energy, and consumer goods industries.
Robotic Winding
The advent of industrial robotics has enabled new winding methods. In these methods, the fibers are pulled out either by translation of a fiber guide around a turning point or by rotational movement of the mandrel around multiple axes, rather than the traditional method of rotating around only one axis.
Robotic Winding with AFP
Traditional vs. Enhanced Robotic Winding
Traditional filament winding is a fairly common industrial low-tech process limited to axisymmetric shapes such as tubes, ducts or pressure vessels. Two-axis winders are the simplest production layout, controlling the rotation of the mandrel and the lateral movement of the delivery device, and can therefore only produce reinforced tubes. Yarn.
Alternatively, conventional four-axis machines are general-purpose winders that can also produce pressure vessels. Controlled degrees of freedom of movement typically include axis rotation, horizontal delivery, vertical delivery (cross-feed) and a rotating yarn delivery head mounted on a cross-feed mandrel. However, these solutions still rely on frequent operator intervention during the various winding operations, which has a significant impact on productivity.
Conventional Winding
Robotic winding is mainly used for advanced applications, where it matches well with tape winding and produces higher quality parts. In this technology, it is also possible to automate auxiliary operations that were previously performed manually, such as placing the mandrel, knotting and cutting the wire, and loading the mandrel covered with wet yarn into the oven. Oven, chuck extraction, etc.
All configuration combinations are available with ready-to-use or custom robots, with major suppliers being ABB, KUKA, Fanuc, and equipment investment directly related to the number of robots used. Its purpose and degree of customization. The huge flexibility offered by robotic winding could have broad market penetration potential, diversifying fiber-reinforced products and applications into new areas.
A New Paradigm for Robotic Filament Winding
Thermoplastic Tape Winding
Thermoplastic tape winding (TTW) is a highly automated process for manufacturing tubular fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as flywheels and pipes. One of the key parameters in the TTW process is the temperature at the press-in point, where the incoming prepreg tape is bonded to the substrate by compaction rollers.
In thermoplastic tape filament winding, complete in-situ consolidation occurs during the winding process, eliminating the need for post-processing in an oven. As a result, rolled thermoplastic parts can be processed in a single production step. In-line fusion of the thermoplastic prepreg occurs almost in the welding process in less than a second. This allows greater freedom to manufacture geometries without post-processing, including flat and concave shapes. Another possible improvement involves the ability to locally direct reinforcement. Thermoplastic consolidation avoids fiber slippage and provides stability for various winding paths beyond geodesic trajectories.
Enable Complex Shapes and Product Testing
- Pressure tanks for storing hydrogen, propellants, or compressed air
- Tubes/pipes: for water, oil and gas
- Structural components: booms, hulls, lattice structures, interstages
- Axially asymmetric parts: pipes,
Overview
Filament winding is a versatile manufacturing technology that has a wide range of applications in various industries such as aerospace, automotive, sports and medical. It offers a variety of advantages, including high strength-to-weight ratio, consistent quality and precision. The process involves winding fiber filaments around a mandrel to form a composite with a matrix resin. The resulting structure can be tailored to meet specific requirements, making it ideal for a variety of applications, including pressure vessels, piping and sporting goods.
In the aerospace industry, filament winding is used to manufacture lightweight but strong aircraft and spacecraft components. For example, the fuel tanks of the space shuttle were made using filament winding. The process is also commonly used in the automotive industry to produce high-performance, lightweight components such as steering wheels, drive shafts and suspension systems. In the sports industry, filament winding is used to create high-performance composites for golf clubs, fishing rods, and other sporting goods. The medical industry has also benefited from filament winding, using it to produce components such as orthopedic implants and spinal rods.
Filament winding has evolved into robotic-enhanced winding, which not only provides additional capabilities to the winding technology, but also allows for the use of sustainable materials such as thermoplastic composites. Filament/tape winding will continue to gain popularity as the hydrogen economy grows and demand for sustainable production in labor-shortage markets increases.
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