Heating characteristics of fixed focus laser assisted thermoplastic-automated fiber placement of 2D and 3D parts

Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is a lean process to produce carbon fiber reinforced laminates in a fully automated manner. So far, the Thermoplastic-AFP process with in situ consolidation is limited to flat laminates using a steady-state process. This work focuses on describing the laser heating on 3D geometries with changing process boundary conditions during lay up. Based on thermal simulations and experimental lay up trials new process strategies are developed for non-steady-state processing.