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Rapid Prototyping of Variable Angle-Tow Composites

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Abstract

The recent development of new manufacturing techniques of composite structures, e.g., additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, allows for going beyond the classical design rules, thus leading the designer to find innovative and more efficient solutions like the variable angle-tow (VAT) composites. VAT composites allow taking advantage from the benefits related to the curvilinear fibre path in the most effective way, though their utilisation unavoidably implies an increased complexity of the design process. In fact, VAT composites are characterised by a large number of design variables involved at different scales. Accordingly, a dedicated multi-scale optimisation approach able to integrate both mechanical and technological requirements (to ensure the manufacturability of the solution) must be developed. In this work, the multi-scale two-level (MS2L) optimisation strategy for VAT laminates is used, for the first time, to design a VAT laminate by taking into account the manufacturing requirements related to the fused filament fabrication (FFF) and continuous filament fabrication (CFF) processes. To show the effectiveness of the MS2L strategy in terms of manufacturability of the optimised solutions, a prototype of the VAT plate is realised by developing an ad hoc CAD model interfaced with the CFF machine. The realised prototype matches very well the optimum fibre path resulting from the MS2L strategy and the importance of including technological constraints within the design process is highlighted.

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Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article and from the corresponding author, A. Catapano, upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bordeaux INP, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Anita Catapano

  2. Laboratoire I2M, CNRS UMR 5295, 33400, Talence, France

    Anita Catapano, Marco Montemurro & Enrico Panettieri

  3. Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Talence, France

    Marco Montemurro & Enrico Panettieri

  4. EI CESI, 64000, Pau, France

    Jean-Arnaud Balcou

Authors
  1. Anita Catapano
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  2. Marco Montemurro
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  3. Jean-Arnaud Balcou
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  4. Enrico Panettieri
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Correspondence to Anita Catapano.

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Catapano, A., Montemurro, M., Balcou, JA. et al. Rapid Prototyping of Variable Angle-Tow Composites. Aerotec. Missili Spaz. 98, 257–271 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42496-019-00019-0

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