Composite article made with unidirectional fibre reinforced tape

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of forming an article from a unidirectional (UD) tape comprising a continuous unidirectional fibre impregnated with polymer resin. The method includes winding a continuous section of cold UD tape to form a closed loop preform (38) comprising a plurality of stacked layers while discretely welding and consolidating the wound preform by heating and applying pressure.

Description

[0001]The present invention relates to a method of forming a composite article from unidirectional fibre reinforced tape.CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0002]This application claims the benefit of U. S. Provisional Application No. 61,567,801, filed Dec. 7, 2011, now pending, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTIONBackground of the Invention[0003]Unidirectional tape is commonly understood to be a thin strip or band of continuous unidirectional fibres (for instance glass fibres, carbon fibres, or other known reinforcing fibres) impregnated with a polymer resin. The tape may typically have a width in the order of magnitude of 1 to 15 cm wide, perhaps wider, and a thickness of less than 1 mm, such that the tape may be provided on a reel.[0004]In a conventional process, it is known to form a composite article with a loop-shaped fibre reinforcement by winding unidirectional fibre reinforced tape around a shape-forming element, the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a method for making articles from unidirectional tape that is cost-effective for large-scale production and can withstand high loads. The method can be used to produce strong and lightweight composite articles with complex shapes and stress distribution. The resulting article is accurate, reliable, and reproducible with low variation in manufacturing tolerances.

Problems solved by technology

The heating and subsequent cooling process is time-consuming and occupies the tape winding and forming machine, thus resulting in a costly manufacturing process.

One of the drawbacks of the latter process is the difficulty of properly holding and positioning the assembled layers together, especially when transporting the assembly from one manufacturing station to another.

Also, for articles that are intended to support high tensile (traction) or bending forces, conventional cold UD tape stacking and forming processes are not well adapted to form complex shapes with optimal tensile resistance properties, as compared to the hot forming process described above.

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