Activity No.

5: Research About Manufacturing Processes

Material Composites I

Abstract: In this paper we will discuss the following manufacturing processes of composite materials:
filament winding, fiber placement, pultrusion, liquid molding, compression molding. We will research about
their stages, the advantages and disadvantages, and the most important characteristics of each one.
 1. INTRODUCTION To obtain a more specific finish in terms of the direction of
the properties, there are different patterns that provide us with
This paper will show the characteristics of the different
different characteristics, which can be divided into three
manufacturing processes used today, their advantages and
types:
disadvantages, as well as their application in aeronautics and
1. Hoop.
industry. The manufacturing methods that will be seen are
2. Helical.
filament winding, in which liquid resins and prepregs are
3. Polar.
used; fiber placement, which today is considered the most
advanced method in terms of technology due to its high
2.1.1.1 Hoop Winding
potential using computerized numerical control; pultrusion,
It is sought that the fiber is rolled almost to 90 degrees, that
used mainly for pieces with constant cross-section, like
is, vertical. However, if it is vertical, it would not be
beams and stringers; liquid molding, which can be divided
distributed along the length of the mandrel, so it is sought to
into a variety of processes; and the compression molding,
place the fiber as close to the 90 degrees.
which involves applying high pressures to shape the material.
2. MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
2.1 Filament Winding.
This procedure consists of placing a set of fibers in a rotary
mandrel by means of a movable platform and a steering ring,
which is responsible for gathering and directing the resulting
fibers. This method can be used to fabricate almost any
revolution geometry, such as cones, cylinders, spheres, etc.
To facilitate the placement of the fibers in the geometry, a
resin bath is applied. Figure 2. Hoop Winding.
Another important aspect to consider is the tension of the
fibers, when tensioning them they can break and directly
affect the properties of the material. For this, there are 2.1.1.2 Helical Winding
automatic tension devices that verify and control the tension The difference of the hoop with the helical is that in the latter
to which the fibers are subjected, the load that the tows the value of the much smaller angle, usually at 45 degrees.
support must be below 1 lb.

Figure 3. Helical Winding.

2.1.1.3 Polar Winding
In the polar form, the mandrel rotates longitudinally while the
fibers are wound from pole to pole.
Figure 1. Filament Winding Process.

However, this type of systems also adds a cost to production,

because the most sophisticated machines are usually the most
expensive. The cost also varies according to the size of the
piece and the type of winder.
The fiber used for this method must be continuous, the most
used are E-glass, S-glass, aramid and carbon / graphite;
which provide good tensile strength and stiffness. In the case
of the resin, polyester, bisphenol, vinyl ester and epoxy are
used; which protects the material from external damage and
impact forces, in addition to improving the corrosion
resistance. Additives can also be applied to the material, in
order to obtain specific properties. Figure 4. Polar Winding
2.1.2 Advantages
2.1.1 Winding Patterns
Some of the advantages of using this method is that it is
highly reproducible, a high fiber volume is obtained, and the
whole piece is made of continuous fiber. However, the main
advantage of this method is its low cost.
2.1.3 Disadvantages
The geometry of the mandrel can be complex and expensive,
which is why it represents a disadvantage for this method. It
is difficult to modify the fiber pattern if you want to apply
more than one layer, besides this method is limited only to
geometries of revolution.
2.1.4 Applications
Some applications for filament winding in aerospace and
aeronautics are cylinders, pressure vessels, rocket motor
cases, and engine cowlings. End fittings are often wound into
the structure, producing strong and efficient joints.
Figure 5. Fiber Reinforced Optimized Rocket Motor Case.
2.2 Fiber Placement
This technique consists in applying the fibers directly on a
piece or mold using a mandrel and a moving arm. With the
advance of technology, this technique has been automated,
thus managing to control the robotic arm numerically. The
robotic arm is capable of dispersing, holding and cutting a
limited number of tows at the same time. Nowadays, it is
possible to apply this method with a machine of up to 5 axes,
besides using 2 mandrels to increase the production.
Before applying the fiber, it is necessary to heat the material
and subject the fibers to a resin bath to obtain a better
adhesion.
Figure 6. Fiber Placement Process.
2.2.1 Advantages
The advantages of this method are many, it is the most used
nowadays due to the high speed of deposition of material
with very few wastes, high repeatability can be achieved with
a less intensive work, besides that no operator intervention is
required, and you can create complex and unique structures.
2.2.2 Disadvantages
This method is very expensive, since the machines used are
very high precision and, therefore, its cost is very high. The
thermoplastic compounds require an additional treatment,
such as autoclave or oven, in addition to presenting
distortions when working with thermoplastic composite
materials.
2.2.3 Applications
In aeronautic industry, it is used by Boeing for construction
of composite fuselages and Bell Helicopter Trexton for
helicopter landing gears.
Figure 7. Construction of a Composite Fuselage by Boeing
using Automated Fiber Placement.
2.3 Pultrusion
Generally, this method is very useful for the construction of
beams and tubes, because the fibers are extracted from a
creel, then a resin bath is applied. Once this is done, the fibers
are joined and aligned in the desired shape, the material is
heated by a constant section and, finally, the fibers are cut to
the desired length. During each section, the composite
material is cured.
Pultrusion is the most effective method for making long and
constant sections of composite material.
Figure 8. Pultrusion Process.
2.3.1 Advantages
Because it is a continuous process, there are a variety of
advantages, among which a low cost of production and
materials. The machinery used does not require complex
systems and has a high degree of automation.
2.3.2 Disadvantages
Only constant cross-section shapes can be manufactured. The
manufacturing times are long and the initial procedure
requires many steps, in addition, the surfaces may contain
gaps, so it has few structural applications. When using
unidirectional fibers, material properties are affected when
loads are applied in different directions.
2.3.3 Applications
Since this method does not have structural applications, a
potential application for aircrafts are floor beams. Using
mainly carbon/epoxy materials, while glass fiber/polyester
materials are used in the market.
Figure 9. Pultruded Parts.
Figure 10. Stringers and Stiffeners for Vertical Stabilizers on
A380.
Figure 11. Aircraft Floor Beams.
2.4 Liquid Molding
For this procedure resin is injected into a mold where the
fiber was previously placed, heat is applied for a better
adhesion and a curing process is applied.
This technique has a large field of applications, however,
because the procedure is very slow, in industries where
production levels are high it is very inefficient to use this
method.
For this method, there is a parameter called mold
permeability, this causes the process to be limited in that
aspect, these points are shown below:
Preform placement: There are geometries in which a
preform cannot be applied directly, since it is physically
impossible. In this case, we will always have gaps in the
mold. These gaps can cause both positive and negative
effects, since, thanks to them, the resin is distributed better,
however, they can present dry spots that directly and
negatively affect the properties of the final piece.
Preform anisotropy: the direction of the preform will
directly affect the permeability of the material and will not
have the same characteristics throughout the piece, these
variations are obtained at the moment of the placement of the
preform.
Geometry: generally, in the industry flat pieces are not used,
in most cases they present edges or curves, and this directly
affects the properties of the material.
2.4.1 Advantages
The main advantages of this method are:
 The tool costs are low.
 It does not take much physical effort.
 The process can be varied to obtain more complex
pieces.
 A good surface finish is obtained.
 Smooth finish on both surfaces.
2.4.2 Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of this method are:
 The mold and the tool used influence the quality of the
piece.
 For large pieces, the cost of the tools increases.
 The preform and the reinforcement must be aligned in
the mold.
2.4.3 Applications
Figure 12. Liquid Molding Process Used in a BMW i8
Sideframe.
2.5 Compression Molding
For this method a large amount of force is applied by means
of a press, there are two matched molds, the matrix and the
reinforcement between both molds are placed and pressure
and heat are applied for a period of time so that the material
takes the form of the mold. The curing process can be carried
out both at room temperature and at high temperatures.
The compression molding process is very rigorous, because
all the parameters must be previously calculated, since these
can directly affect the material.
If a very high temperature is applied, the properties of the
fibers and matrix can change. If the temperature is low, the
fibers may not get wet properly. On the other hand, if the
pressure is too high, it can cause a breakdown of the fibers.
And if the pressure is low, the adhesion of the fiber and the
matrix will not be done correctly. Also, if the application time
is not enough or exceeds, it can cause effects associated with
pressure and temperature.
2.5.1 Advantages
One of the main advantages is that, when working with very
high pressures, the application times are short, so the
production is high.
You get a good finish, and you can even get different
textures. A good flexibility is obtained, besides inserts, bosses
and attachment can be used, all this with a very low material
waste.
The cost of maintenance of the machine is very low.
2.5.2 Disadvantages
The investment cost is very high, due to the machinery used
and its parts. Therefore, it is a process used for high
production rates. In certain cases, it is necessary to apply a
second treatment to improve the properties of the piece.
2.5.3 Applications
Figure 13. Compression molding is used to produce "Carbon
Core" passenger cell components for the BMW 7 Series.
3. CONCLUSION
There is a wide variety of manufacturing processes of
composite materials, and each of the processes offers us
different characteristics, besides that some parts are not
possible to manufacture with certain methods, or the price
would be very high. As in the case of compression molding
for the manufacture of beams, which it is possible to realize,
however due to the size of the beam, the machinery and
necessary tool would raise the cost of the piece. That is why
there is a wide variety of manufacturing processes with
different techniques and finishes, which meet the needs for
each situation.
Nowadays, companies are looking for solutions in composite
materials, since the cost-benefit ratio is very high, in addition
to the possibilities offered by these materials. Companies like
Boeing already have the right machinery to build aircraft
parts with composite materials.
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