Automated tape laying

Most manufacturers use spray guns and pumping systems to have a more rapid and consistent mix to wet out the laminate, where highly accurate metering systems can also be used and automated tape-laying machines have been developed recently, as discussed in the part on spray-up techniques. 

T3p6 Laying. Tape-laying equipment utilizes an automated tape-laying head to place the tape contiguously on a pattern table or mold in such a way... 

Early automated tape laying imitated manual operations to lay 7.5-cm imi-directional tape on a flat table. All manufacturers at first produced 7.5-cm tape, and tape-laying machines were built accordingly. Tape sizes were then extended to 15 and 30 cm, then back to 2.5 cm. Today most machines have two heads one for 2.5-cm, and another for 15-cm tape. 

Fig. 28. Original 8-axis automated tape lay-up system (ATLAS). Courtesy of (joldsworthy Engineering, Inc.

Fig. 30. Two-phase tape-laying system, (a) Phase I tape preparation machine, ACCESS (Advanced Composite Cassette Edit-Shear System) (b) Phase II tape-laying machine, ATLAS II (Automated Tape Lay-up System, second version). Travel X, 7.28 m Y, 4.08 m Z, 4.8 m C, 200° and A, 30°. Courtesy of Goldsworthy Engineering, Inc.

Tape-Laying Process. The automated tape-laying process assumes the correct size, angle of cut, material constituency, and order of progression on the... 

Lin L, Young L, Liwei W and Jun X (2009) PMAC-based tracking control system for 8-axis automated tape-laying machine. Chin J Aerosp 22 558-563. 

In automated tape laying, a distinction should be made between thermoset prepregs and thermoplastic semifinished parts, the so-called tapes. 

Automation layup efforts are traditionally directed toward the prqrreg tape lay down/autoclave cure processes that are necessary for complex aircraft shapes. Major... 

N N (2000) Tape-laying machine automates wing construction, Machine Design 72 45. 

Figure 1.12 is adapted from Machine Design, Vol. 72, 2000, Author Anonymous, Title Tape-laying machine automates wing construction, pp. 45, Copyright (2008), with permission from Penton Media Inc. 

In thermo set tape laying, the manual laying process of the prepreg is automated. This can be done directly inside the mold or through an intermediate step of a flat textile structure (prepreg laminate). The aforementioned conditions apply for the mold design and the mold requirements. 

Cost at scale Ceramic processing typically involves high tanperatures, which requires expensive furnaces. Automation, lay-up, SCTeen printing, tape casting, and laser machining have all been considered. 

The lay-up procedme may be carried out entirely by hand (hand lay-up), in which the operator both cuts the lengths of tape and then positions them in the desired orientation on the tooled siuface. Alternatively, tape patterns may be machine cut, then hand laid. Fabrication costs can be further reduced by automation of prepreg lay-up and other manufacturing procedmes (e.g., filament winding, as discussed next), which virtually eliminates the need for hand labor. These automated methods are essential for many applications of composite materials to be cost effective. 

---