Thermoplastic Composite Manufacturing

Overview

LAMMA’s primary manufacturing research focuses on Automated Fiber Placement with in-situ laser consolidation (AFP-ISC) of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, specifically carbon fiber / LM-PAEK systems.

Research questions

• How do laser irradiance distribution, substrate curvature, and layup speed interact to determine consolidation quality?
• Can crystallinity gradients across the laminate thickness be predicted and controlled?
• What is the minimum process parameter set needed to produce aerospace-grade parts without autoclave post-processing?

Approach

We combine a volume-of-fluid thermal process model, XFL irradiance characterization, and micro-scale ray tracing to build a high-fidelity forward simulation pipeline. Crystallinity evolution is modeled using Nakamura/Avrami kinetics and Hoffman-Lauritzen theory.

Facilities

This research is conducted using LAMMA’s AFP system: a KUKA KR150 robot, Laserline 2 kW diode laser, and Addcomposites AFP-XS placement head.