Contents
Overview
Thermoplastic Tape Winding (TTW) is a highly automated process for manufacturing tubular-like fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites such as flywheels and pipes. One of the crucial parameters in the TTW process is the temperature of the nip point at which the incoming prepreg tape is bonded with the substrate by a compaction roller.
Thermoplastic Tape winding
In thermoplastic tape filament winding, complete in-situ consolidation occurs during winding and no post-processing in the oven is required. Therefore, rolled thermoplastic parts can be processed in one production step. The inline fusion of the thermoplastic prepreg takes place instantly, in a fraction of a second, almost during a welding process. This allows for greater freedom of geometries that can be fabricated without post-processing, including flat and concave shapes. Another possible improvement involves the ability to orient the reinforcement locally. Thermoplastic consolidation avoids fiber slippage, providing stability for various winding paths beyond geodesic trajectories.