Study on parameters affecting the mechanical properties of dry fiber bundles during continuous composite manufacturing processes

For continuous manufacturing processes mechanical preloading of the fibers occurs during the delivery of the fibers from the spool creel to the actual manufacturing process step. Moreover preloading of the dry roving bundles might be mandatory, e.g. during winding, to be able to produce high quality components. On the one hand too high tensile loads within dry roving bundles might result in a catastrophic failure and on the other hand the part produced under too low pre-tension might have low quality and mechanical properties. In this work, load conditions influencing mechanical properties of dry glass fiber bundles during continuous composite manufacturing processes were analyzed. Load conditions, i.e. fiber delivery speed, necessary pre-tension and other effects of the delivery system during continuous fiber winding, were chosen in process typical ranges. First, the strain rate dependency under static tensile load conditions was investigated. Furthermore different free gauge lengths up to 1.2 m, interactions between fiber points of contact regarding influence of sizing as well as impregnation were tested and the effect of twisting on the mechanical behavior of dry glass fiber bundles during the fiber delivery was studied. (paper)