Influence of curvature radius on manufacturing defect of composite component formed by autoclave

Abstract

Defect information obtained by non-destructive identification for more than four thousand composite components fabricated by convex mould in autoclave molding was statistically analyzed in this paper. The correlated rules between curvature radius of composite component and manufacturing defect were revealed. By self-designed solid pressure distribution testing method, the pressure distribution in the interface between flexible mould and rigid convex mould was also measured. Furthermore, combined with stress analysis in corner section and defect micrograph, the forming mechanism of the defect was primarily analyzed. The process control measures to avoid manufacturing defect were given. The results indicate that the defect ratio and the size of delamination in corner section of composite component both decrease with the increase of the curvature radius of component. The thickness distribution tends to be thick in the corner and thin on both sides of flat part, which is related to the coupling action between percolation mechanism and shear flow mechanism and the uniformity of pressure distribution.

Keywords

• laminates
• composite components
• curvature radius
• defect
• delamination
• void