ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Manuf. Technol.
Sec. Industrial Robotics and Automation
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmtec.2025.1649798
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Industrial RoboticsView all 6 articles
Improved Manufacturing Quality of Thermoplastic Composites with Infrared-Assisted Automated Fiber Placement
Provisionally accepted
- Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
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This study investigates the influence of infrared (IR)-assisted automated fiber placement (AFP) process parameters on the mechanical performance of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite to fabricate defect-free structures. The effect of process parameters on the processability of carbon fiber-polycarbonate (CF/PC) was analyzed and presented. A structured design of experiments approach was adopted to study the effects of the compaction force and tool temperature on the flexural and lap-shear strength of the manufactured CF/PC parts. The fractography and the interlaminar adhesion were analyzed using digital microscopy. Further, the CF/PC laminated were successfully laid onto a rotating 3D printed polyetherimide cylindrical mold. This work shows, for the first time, the ability of IR-assisted AFP to manufacture CF/PC laminates with improved mechanical properties, demonstrating its potential as a promising material for semi-structural applications.
Keywords: Automated Fiber Placement, Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP), optimization, Process-structure-property relationship, Mechanical Properties
Received: 19 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Venkatesan, Ridhwan, Zulkifi, Gupta and Silva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chadurvedi Venkatesan, chadurvedisahi92@gmail.com
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