Paper number 325

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN APPROACH TO OFF-LINE QUALITY CONTROL IN FILAMENT WINDING

M. Lossie, D. Vandepitte, and K. Olofsson

Division of Production Engineering, Machine Design and Automation,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300B, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Swedish Institute of Composites, P.O.Box 271, Öjebyn, S-94126 Piteå, Sweden

Summary Wet filament winding is a common composite manufacturing process for quasi-axisymmetrical components. Thanks to CAD and CIM developments, wet winding has evolved towards an advanced level with respect to design and automation capabilities. However, from a technological point of view, quality control in filament winding remains rather poor. Within the framework of a Brite/Euram project, this quality problem has been dealt with in an experimental way. Large statistically designed experiments have been performed at different partners' sites to create a data bank. These data have been analysed to find new, functional mechanisms. Parameters identified as being significant have been integrated in a mathematical model. This model can be used to select the best material, process and design parameter levels as to optimise the performance of filament wound components. Througout the experiments, several high quality tubes have been wound, with reproducible quasi-zero void content. In this paper the general approach followed in the project is described and the subsequent phases of experimentation are discussed, together with their most relevant results.
Keywords filament winding, quality control, design of experiments, process optimisation.

Theme : Processing, Integrated Design and Manufacturing

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