In-Situ Consolidation Automated Fiber Placement of Thermoplastic Composites for High-Rate Aircraft Manufacturing

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) initiated the Hi-Rate Composites Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) project in 2021 with the goal of significantly increasing composite structures manufacturing rate in the commercial aircraft industry. The technologies currently under investigation include resin infusion and automated fiber placement (AFP) of novel thermoset materials and thermoplastic composites. Thermoplastic composites offer attractive solutions to rapid manufacturing due to their ability to be formed and consolidated quickly. NASA is particularly focused on assessing composite structure manufacturing utilizing an in-situ consolidation AFP of thermoplastics (ICAT) process employing a recently developed laser heating system. Two semi-crystalline polyaryletherketone thermoplastic tape materials were characterized to ascertain the ICAT process parameters at AFP placement speeds approaching 423 mm/s. The required laser power settings were determined at Electroimpact, measuring material temperatures utilizing a forward looking infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging camera and thermocouples. The material temperature, tool temperature, and placement speed were varied for resulting consolidation quality assessment. The resulting temperature data were also utilized to calibrate thermal analysis models under development at NASA. The experimental temperature data confirmed analytical results. An overview of the HiCAM project as well as initial data from ICAT process characterizations are described.