A Method for Winding Advanced Composites of Unconventional Shapes using Continuous and Aligned Fibers

• Main Author: Allen, Abraham K.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2004
• Subjects: composites; advanced composites; filament; filament winding; continuous; continuous fiber; uncut; uncut fiber; aligned; aligned fiber; lotus filament winding; complex shapes; unconventional shapes; lotus shapes; lotus machine; composites manufacturing; manufacturing; ideal composites; ideal advanced composites; Construction Engineering and Management; Manufacturing
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/346; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1345&context=etd

Advanced composites are extremely strong, rigid, and light, even when compared with advanced metals. Advanced composites are replacing high-tech metals as the material of choice for aerospace engineering. However, the processes used to manufacture advanced composites generally lose some of the properties of the materials by their process limitations. One process that keeps the theoretically awesome qualities of the composite materials in tact is filament winding. Filament wound parts are used as rocket shells, bicycle frame tubes, drive shafts, pressure vessels, etc. Filament winding is an automated process and makes reliable parts to close tolerances. If a straight tube were to be made by all the existing composites manufacturing processes, filament wound tubes would be significantly better than any other. However, filament winding is generally limited to making straight tubes. A new process based on filament winding is proposed; one that can wind complex shapes of the same high quality as conventional filament winding. This process has achieved this by winding continuous, uncut, and aligned fibers. This process is called Lotus Filament Winding.