The filament winding method is one of the most efficient technologies for manufacturing composite structures with high strength-to-weight ratios. Traditionally, this process has been widely used for the production of axisymmetric structures such as pressure vessels, pipes, and cylindrical shells. However, modern aerospace and mechanical engineering increasingly require the production of composite structures with complex geometries, including prismatic and frame-type elements. The implementation of filament winding for such structures is associated with a number of technological limitations related to the geometry of the mandrel, the reinforcement angle, and the width of the reinforcing tape. In particular, when winding on prismatic mandrels, the reinforcing tape undergoes additional deformation when passing over edges and corner zones, which may lead to technological defects such as wrinkling, local buckling, tape misalignment, and uncontrolled overlapping of layers.
The aim of this study is to develop an analytical approach for determining the technological feasibility conditions of the filament winding process for prismatic composite structures and to establish a criterion for selecting the allowable width of reinforcing tape depending on the geometric parameters of the mandrel and the winding angle.
The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of a mathematical model for determining the parameters of automated tape winding on bodies of revolution with complex geometry, which allows accounting for the overlap of composite tapes, determining the required tape length, material consumption, and machine processing time during the manufacturing of aircraft structural elements.
The research is based on a geometric and technological analysis of the filament winding process on prismatic mandrels. A mathematical model describing the deformation of the reinforcing tape when passing over mandrel edges is proposed. The model establishes the relationship between the reinforcement angle, the tape width, and the radius of curvature of the mandrel edges. A criterion condition for technological feasibility of the winding process is formulated using the allowable deformation parameter of the reinforcing tape. Analytical expressions are derived for determining the allowable tape width, the length of the reinforcing material required for winding, the mass of overlapping zones, and the estimated machine time required for the manufacturing process.
The developed model is applied to the analysis of a prismatic composite structural element representing a fragment of an aircraft vertical stabilizer frame. A parametric study is performed to investigate the influence of the reinforcement angle and tape width on the technological parameters of the winding process. The obtained results demonstrate that an increase in tape width leads to a reduction in the total length of reinforcing material and machine time but simultaneously increases the mass of overlapping zones. The proposed criterion allows determining the range of technologically acceptable tape widths that prevent excessive deformation and minimize manufacturing defects.
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