Speed, tension, compaction
Speed, tension and compaction are not three independent knobs. Speed acts through heat and pressure (dwell time), so heat has to follow speed. Tension interacts with the shape: a tow under tension T on a curve of radius R pushes on the surface with T/R per unit length, into a convex part, off a concave one, which is why too much tension bridges concave corners.
Predict · at 1:30 in the video
Now tension. You're laying a tow into a concave corner, and the tension is high. What goes wrong?
It bridges. The tow lifts off the tool and spans the corner like a bridge. Here's why.
Automated Fiber Placement: Status, Challenges, and Evolution, Ramy Harik & Alex Brasington.
- Chapter 2, section 4.A
- Chapter 2, section 4.B
- Chapter 2, section 5.
- Chapter 2, section 6.A
Simulations in this lesson are our own. Where the numbers are invented to show a mechanism, the video says so on screen.
