Enhanced characterization of tow gaps in fiber steered laminates: Advanced specimen design for better representation of defects in structures

The thesis aimed to characterize the effects of manufacturing-induced defects, particularly gaps in variable stiffness laminates. The primary focus centered on designing a specimen capable of accurately characterizing gap effects. A refined, element-level specimen design featuring a controlled gauge zone was developed, based on pre-defined...

A Fibre-Path Generation Algorithm for Fibre-Steered Variable Stiffness Laminates

The development of novel materials has been of great interest to the aerospace industry in the pursuit of efficiency and cost reduction. Fibre-steered variable stiffness laminates have promising characteristics due to the ability to better tailor designs for expected loading, as the fibre orientation can be varied within a layer. This thesis was...

The effects of local fibre steering: Reducing gaps and overlaps by compensating for tow width fluctuation in automated fibre placement

The aerospace industry increasingly uses fibre-reinforced plastics that are manufactured using automated fibre placement (AFP). A common problem in AFP is the occurrence of gaps and overlaps that affect the structural perfromance of laminates. Tow width fluctuation is an important cause of gaps and overlaps. Two developments in manufacturing are...