Thermal Imaging as a Solution for Reliable Monitoring of AFP Processes

Abstract

Nondestructive testing methods for prepreg materials and in-process monitoring of the Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) process are current and challenging topics. The thermography is a solution for both, to ensure the material quality of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CRFP) tapes and to detect certain defects during the lay-up process. Moreover, many defects during the AFP process are related to a low material quality. A sensor-based system to monitor the winding process of CFRP tape as an analogous model to the manufacturing process of prepreg materials is presented. Provoke defects, such as variating fiber volume ratio or different tow geometries, are detected during the winding process as well as during the AFP process with the help of a thermal in-process monitoring system.