Development and construction of an automated curing system for CFRP-Slittapes

The usage of pre-impregnated carbon fibers (prepregs) in the aviation is an essential part for manufacturing lightweight constructions. One specific kind of prepregs are slittapes. These are about ¼" broad unidirectional fiber-reinforced plastics, which are used in winding or fiber placement technology. At this time, components are produced by the mentioned practices and subsequently, they are cured in autoclaves. The main problem with the current state of technology is the rather expensive storage of the semi-finished composite-material. For this reason, the cure-process should be moved to the beginning of the production process which means to cure the slittapes before production. Afterwards, particular layers are bonded together under pressure. Basis of this innovative processing-method is a new generation of fiber placement heads which are able to process the pre-consolidated slittapes. In order to make further investigations to tape laying heads and the bonding method, it is necessary to be able to produce large quantities of pre-cured slittapes of a consistent quality. The objective of this paper is to develop a construction which is able to unwind the slittape material from the stock, cure it, and finally to wind it again up on a mandrel.