Session: 01-03 -01: Advanced Manufacturing and Process–Structure Relationships in Aerospace Structures

Paper Number: 190219

190219 - Digital Twin Modeling of Radiant Exposure Driven Thermal Mechanisms in Thermoplastic Automated Fiber Placement 

Mechanical performance and tow bond strength in Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) are governed by complex thermal histories and process-dependent phenomena inherent to the manufacturing of thermoplastic-based carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) panels. In a typical AFP setup, the incoming tow is guided beneath a compaction roller, ensuring contact and compression against the substrate. The position and orientation of the heating lamp strongly influence the total irradiance absorbed by both the incoming tow and the substrate. This radiant exposure governs the temperature rise within the material and, through the resulting heating and cooling histories, controls the degree of thermoplastic crystallization and the resulting tow-to-tow bond strength. Producing high-quality thermoplastic parts therefore requires finely tuned and consistent temperature profiles at the interface between the incoming tow and the substrate during consolidation. This challenge is further exacerbated when manufacturing over curved surfaces or tool paths, where variations in AFP angular velocity and changing distances between the heating source and the substrate become significant.

In this study, a reduced-order model of the irradiance field produced by a xenon arc flashlamp equipped with a five-facet quartz guide is developed to predict the irradiance absorbed by a CFRP tow as it passes through the flux field while navigating complex curvatures. Radiant exposure distributions across the substrate are evaluated for a series of experimental configurations, including transitions from flat to curved substrate profiles, changes in lamp position and orientation, and parameter adjustments implemented to accommodate these geometric variations. Results show that curved regions of the substrate experience a reduction in radiant exposure for both convex and concave geometries, with tighter radii producing larger reductions. Changes in lamp position and angle shift the radiant exposure distribution in both flat and curved regions, reflecting the nonuniform irradiance pattern generated by the quartz light guide. Finally, mitigation strategies are investigated in which layup speed reductions or lamp position adjustments are applied when traversing curved regions, demonstrating their effectiveness in compensating for reduced radiant exposure.

Presenting Author: Mark Smeets University of Texas at Arlington

Presenting Author Biography: Mark Smeets is currently a 3rd year PhD student in the Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Texas at Arlington under the supervision of Dr. Paul Davidson. His research focuses on the manufacturing of thermoset and thermoplastic composite panels made via Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) using a 6-axes robot. Mark is currently working on modeling and testing layup procedures and their adjustable parameters for thermoplastic tows heated by an arc-flash xenon lamp equipped with a quartz guide. The lamp position, angle, and power influence the irradiance distributed onto the tows during layup, which ultimately affect the temperature of the incoming tow, substrate, and consolidation point between the two.