TEsting of Fibre Steered Composites II (TEFSC II)

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TEFSC will develop key enablers for the industrial adoption of the Rapid-Tow-Shearing (RTS), a novel composites manufacturing technology, which allows the placement of wide carbon tapes along curved paths (fibre-steering) without the defects (gaps/overlaps/wrinkles) typically seen with existing Automated Fibre Placement / Tape Laying technologies (AFP/ATL). Fibre steering drastically increases the structural performance of composite structures. Being able to continuously tailor orientations and place fibres along load-paths can contribute significantly towards the optimised use of composite materials, leading to lightweight cost-effective sustainable composite components across crucial composite sectors such as aerospace, space, automotive and wind energy.Current design methods make use of a series of well-established mechanical characterisation tests (ASTM standards) to obtain material allowables data. These test methods are suitable for coupons manufactured using straight fibres. However, the unique properties and behaviours arising from curved fibre designs mean that new test methods must be developed to provide a thorough understanding of these behaviours as steered composites can lead to effects in the secondary direction. The lack of an established testing method for fibre-steered components hinders wide adoption of the RTS process due to barriers related to certification, especially for highly regulated aerospace and space applications.TEFSC-II builds upon TEFSC (IUK-10039205). In TEFSC, a series of fibre-steered coupons at different steering-angles were tested setting the basis for mechanical characterisation of fibre-steered components. TEFSC-II aims to further investigate this focusing on the effect of fibre-waviness and volume-fraction variations on fibre-steered parts. This will de-risk and provide a route to certification of this novel process, to enable it to be taken forward in the future as a viable means for manufacturing the next generation of composite components.The TEFSC-II project will begin in January 2024 and runs for 6 months, by which point thorough understanding of the mechanical behaviour of fibre-steered components will be established. Successful completion of TEFSC-II will pave the way for certification accelerating adoption of RTS in highly regulated applications such as aerospace and space.