Design and performance of composite structures made by tailored fiber placement technology

The potential of carbon fiber to carry load and offer stiffness is closely linked to its orientation inside a component. Common manufacturing techniques offer a limited scope to adapt fiber orientation to the internal loads. A process called Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) allows fibers to be placed in curved patterns according to various stress situations. The technique produces a flat perform by fixing a single roving onto a textile carrier material using a textile stitching thread. Deformation of the performs is possible with certain limitations to form 3D-shells. Resin injection processes are used to produce composite parts. Three typical examples are presented to illustrate the unique potential and performance of TFP based structures. The Bicycle Brake Booster is a simple stiffness dominated problem, while an Ankle Foot Orthosis as a walking aid has to offer reliable strength and is restricted in terms of shape and stiffness. The satellite antenna used in infrared band needs controlled thermal distortion to offer the high accuracy needed here. Current research activities comprise the expansion of TFP to directly produce 3D-shell structures and the development of optimization software that considers the processing scope and design rules. The status of these research activities will presented briefly.