Requirement of compactness pressure constancy during the manufacturing of not axial-symmetric components by robotized filament winding

Robotized filament winding is a technology that involves an industrial robot placing fibres impregnated by resin along the directions of stresses the work-piece is subjected in exercise. It moves a deposition head along a winding trajectory in order to wind a tape impregnated by resin on a die. The winding tension is a very critical aspect of robotized filament winding, since it influences the compactness and the alignment of the fibres inside the composite material. The present paper underlines the problems connected to the lack of constancy of the compactness pressure during the winding of a tape on a die characterized by many different bending radii due to the complex geometry of the part to manufacture. This paper shows a study to set constant the value of the compactness pressure of the tape on the whole die. This means to assure in each point of the composite part the same value of density, percentages in volume of fibres and resin. By this study it has been possible to determine a model that is able to control in real time the tension to apply to the tape during winding or to design auxiliary devices to precompacting the tape on die, once deposited.