Computer-integrated filament winding:

computer-integrated design, robotic

filament winding and robotic quality control
Johan Scholliers and Hendrik Van Brussel

A computer-integrated environment has been created around the filament winding process,
including design, production and quality control. In the design phase, computer-aided design,
finite element analysis and fibre path calculation techniques are integrated. Two filament
winding machines have been developed for production: a two-axis filament winding machine
and a robotic tape winding machine. The collision-free robot program is generated completely
off-line. For quality control, a robotic ultrasonic C-scanning cell has been developed.

Keywords: composite materials; filament winding; robotics; composites design; ultrasonic

C-scan

NOMENCLATURE
point of fibre path
axis of delivery rolls fibre path parameter
binormal = aS(u, v)/&J, surface derivative
curvature vector = dS(u, v)/&, surface derivative
delivery point in pay-out eye surface
transversal force on fibre tangent to fibre path
normal force on fibre magnitude of fibre tension
resultant force on fibre surface parameters
fibre tension fibre path
friction force slippage tendency
outwards directed normal to surface friction coefficient

INTRODUCTION production costs can be reduced by automation of the

design and production. This requires the creation of a
Filament winding allows the placement of fibres with a computer-integrated environment around the winding
highly reproducible degree of precision, and has therefore process, including design, production and quality
become a widely used technique for the production of control. In the design stage, software to lay-out the fibre
high quality composite structures. paths and to calculate the strength of the product have
Design of the fibre paths, so that all the design to be integrated. In the production phase the machine
requirements are fulfilled, and calculation of the positions path is calculated, based on the fibre path data. Two
of the pay-out eye are the main problems during the filament winding units have been developed: a low-cost
design and production phase of a filament-wound part. filament winding machine for axisymmetrical parts and
For axisymmetric parts, the simple equation of Clairaut’ a robotic tape/filament winding cell for more complex
is mainly used, thereby limiting the design to geodesics. shaped parts. Quality control is performed with a robotic
If deviations from geodesics are desired, or if the part is ultrasonic C-scanning technique.
asymmetric, fibre path calculations require considerably
more mathematical effort. Advanced software tools are
then required to design and manufacture the filament- DESIGN OF A FILAMENT-WOUND PART
wound part.
The labour-intensive part design, development and The design of a wound part includes both design of the
part shape and lay-out of the fibre paths. The fibre paths
Paper presented at Seminar on Research in Filament Winding, 24 must be calculated so that a part meeting the strength
February 1993, Heverlee, Belgium and stiffness requirements is obtained. Therefore three

0956-7143/94/01 /0015-09 @ 1994 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd

Composites Manufacturing Vol 5 No 1 1994 15
 Calculation of fibre paths
Two basic methods can be used for the calculation of
fibre paths: the part can be approximated by triangles
/ \ \ (on which the fibre path corresponds to a straight line),
finite element mesh geometrical data fibre path points or the path can be calculated by solving a set of
differential equations numerically. The first method,
which is used by the programs CADWIND* and
CADFIL3, would require an additional processing step
pt+];~pzq
of the CAD surface model. Differential equations have
- been derived by Li and Lin4 for axisymmetric surfaces
I
machine path
and by Di Vita et al.’ for tubelike surfaces. In both
articles, a special parametrization of the surface is
required.
Figure 1 Integration of CAD, FEA and CAWAR In this paper, a set of differential equations is derived
for a semi-geodesic fibre path on a general surface.
A general surface S is described by the mapping S(u, u).
The fibre path is represented as a curve T(s) on the surface
tasks have to be integrated during the design: design of S(u, a). To each point p of r a Frenet trihedron6 is
the geometry (with, for example, a computer-aided design attached, which consists of three orthonormal vectors:
(CAD) system), strength calculations (with, for example, the unit tangent i: the outwards directed normal nand
a finite element analysis (FEA) program) and calculation the binormal b (Figure 2).
of the fibre path trajectories. The tangent t equals:
Several software packages, such as CADWIND’ and
CADFIL3, have been developed for the calculation of 4s) = dUs)
~
ds
fibre paths and machine paths. Each of these packages
has its own graphics and own surface representation, _ Wu, 0) du + aS(u, 0) du
which makes it difficult to transport the geometry to au ds ___au -ds
other systems and to integrate the fibre path calculations
with other programs, e.g., finite element calculations. du du
= s: - + iv - (1)
These software packages are also mostly limited to ds ds
‘tubelike’ (or ‘almost-axisymmetric’) surfaces; i.e., closed
surfaces with a central spine and an almost constant This tangent has unit length if the curve is naturally
cross-sectional shape. Tubelike parts are, like axisym- parametrized, i.e., if the parameter s corresponds to the
metric parts, covered by repeating a basic fibre path all path length along the curve r. In this case, the following
over the circumference, so that the fibres are spread condition is fulfilled:
equally over each cross-section normal to the spine2*3.
Complete asymmetric shapes, like branched mandrels, ~;=1*!5Ed=() or 2F!!+.t=f) (2)
are difficult to handle with these programs. Contrary to ds ds
tubelike surfaces, a single winding pattern that covers The outwards directed normal n’ is the normalized
the asymmetric part completely cannot be found. Each cross product of two non-coincident vectors in the
fibre path must be separately designed, resulting in a tangent plancat S(u, u); e.g., s’, and iv, the derivatives in
large amount of data for complete part coverage. the u- and u-directions, The binormal 6 is the cross
At Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, a computer- product of the tangent t and the normal n. The tangent
integrated design environment, encompassing the three t and the binormal-b are functions of u, u, du/ds and
subtasks, has been generated (Figure I). The part is dulds. The normal n depends only on u and u.
designed with a CAD surface modeller (Unigraphics), The curvature vector c = dtlds is, according to
while strength calculations are performed with an FEA
system (Nastran). For the calculation of fibre paths and
robot trajectories, a computer program CAWAR
(computer-aided filament winding of asymmetric parts
using robots) has been developed. This program is not
limited to tubelike surfaces, but can handle any
asymmetric shape.
The geometry of the part is defined in a commercial
CAD system. The geometrical model is also used by the
FEA and CAWAR programs. For the strength
calculations, the finite element preprocessor of Uni-
graphics for Nastran is used to generate the FEA input
file. For the fibre path calculations, the CAD geometry
is imported into CAWAR by means of an IGES file, the
most common neutral interface format. The CAD surface
model is also used to fabricate the mandrel, or the mould
in which the mandrel is cast, on a computer numerically
controlled (CNC) machine, and to generate the path for
the robotic ultrasonic scanning probe. Figure 2 Stability condition for fibre path

16 Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994

Equation (2) always normal to the tangent t’ at the with:
naturally parametrized curve T(s). The curvature vector a 11 = Cu.i
equals :
a 12 = $.i
c- =dt
~-
ds a2, = s:.(b4+ %n')

- d2u + d2v - du 2 a22 = T".(lT+ hi)

= S” ds2 + % s + S”” z
0
dv ’
&
0 (3)
b,=-
du ’ +2J
GUds
LO
!!!I!!!!+~
‘” ds ds ( >I
!!!I!’
“” ds
.i

The only external force acting on the fibre during-,

winding is the fibre tension. The fibre tension f, = Tt This system of equations can be solved for the variables
( >I
do ’
ds . (6+ hi)

leads to a force J: = dx/ds = Tcper unit length on the d2uJds2 and d2vJds2:
mandrel surface, which is directed towards the centre of
curvature of the fibre path. The force Tr can be split in d2u a22h - ad2
-=
two components: the normal force f, = T(c.i))n: ds2 al ta22 - a12a21
perpendicula: to the surface, and the transversal force
5 = T(c.@)b, tangential to the mandrel surface (Figure du dv
=A( u, 0, -, - ) (12)
ds ds
‘When the surface is not completely convex, the fibre
may lift off from the surface, taking a shorter way through d2v ad2 - a2A
-=
the air. This is called jibre bridging. To prevent fibre ds2 al 1a22 - a12azl
bridging, the normal force f, must be directed towards
the material side of the surface, in the opposite direction
of the outwards directed normal n’:
du dv
=f2( u, v, -7 -
ds ds
) (13)

tTsfn<O or T(n. ij < 0 (4) The system of differential equations (12) and (13) is solved
numerically in the CAWAR program.
Fibre bridging occurs if the product n’.c’is positive.
In order to obtain an accurate and reproducible fibre
lay-down, the fibre may not slip on the surface. The Paths in tape winding
transversal force jb should therefore be smaller than the An alternative to winding with several individually
maximum friction force 3w between the fibre and the tensioned rovings is to wind with a single tape. The use
material underneath, or: of tapes results in lower investment cost, since only one
ll3blls Il3wll= PI13nll (5) delivery unit is needed. However, tapes wrinkle easily
under transversal compressive forces, which have
with p the static coefficient of friction. The value of p therefore to be kept as low as possible. This causes
depends on various factors, such as resin viscosity and problems in tape guidance and tape centring, since no
mandrel surface finish, and can vary7y8 between 0.2 and transversal guides can be used.
0.4. In a band with independently tensioned rovings, the
The slippage tendency5, 2, is defined as the ratio
rovings can move longitudinally with respect to each
between the magnitudes of the transversal force fb and other. This is no longer possible in a tape; if the difference
the normal force 3”:
between the lengths of the tape edges becomes too large,
A= *!L$& the path of the edges will change so that the difference
(6) between the lengths of the paths is minimized: the tape
” -c.n
will slip, wrinkle or lift off from the surface, which will
The stability criterion (5) can then be written as: have a negative effect on the strength of the part. For
faultless winding, the path of the tape centre should be
14 s P (7)
such that the difference between the lengths of the edges
In Equation (6) a negative sign is used since c‘. n’ is is minimized. Such a path is called a natural path’. This
negative, except when fibre bridging occurs. If the path can be approximated by a geodesic, provided that
slippage tendency I equals zero, the fibre path the width of the tape is sufficiently smaller than the radius
corresponds to a geodesic. of curvature of the surfacelO. Therefore tape winding
The set of equations (2) and (6) can be written as: allows only geodesics, so that the design freedom is less
c.i= 0 than in filament winding, where deviations from
(8)
geodesics are allowed.
c’.(d+ hi) = 0 (9)
These equations result, with Equation (3), in a system of Design methodology
two second-order differential equations: The fibre paths have to be designed so that all the design
d2u d2v requirements for the part are met. For strength and cost
alljp + al2 - = b, (10) requirements an optimal strength and/or minimal weight
ds2
are desired. For aesthetic reasons or for fluid storage, a
d2u d2v full and uniform coverage is often desired. The design
a,,-
ds2
+ a22-
ds2
= b2 (11) process consists of the following steps (Figure 3).

Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994 17

 product specifications Step 4. Composite stress analysis
I 1
geometry mandrel fabrication A finite element analysis is performed on the composite
part. If the requirements of strength and stiffness are not
fulfilled, the lay-up is adapted by adding fibre paths or
by changing the fibre path trajectories.
If membrane stresses are dominant in the part, the
preliminary isotropic stress analysis will give a reasonable
guide for the fibre path directions. If, however, bending
stresses occur, the magnitudes and directions of the
principal stresses can be seriously influenced by the fibre
path trajectories and fibre path sequence. Several
iterations are required in this case to obtain the optimal
design of the wound part.

Step 5. Check on windability

machine path change sequence
The positions of the pay-out eye are calculated, as will
be described in the next section. For convex/concave
parts, a collision-free path may not be found if the tangent
to the fibre path intersects the part, and if the distance
machine program
between the point of the fibre path and the intersection
point with the part is too small. If a path cannot be
Figure 3 Design of a filament-wound part
wound, the fibre path sequence is changed so that the
path is wound backwards. If the path cannot be wound
backwards, it is removed from the lay-up and replaced
by another path.
Step 1. Isotropic stress analysis
To obtain optimal strength, the fibres have to be
optimally loaded. The optimal fibre directions are derived PRODUCTION OF FILAMENT-WOUND
from a stress analysis with an isotropic finite element PARTS
model and imported into the CAWAR program (Figure
1). Two filament winding machines have been developed at
KU Leuven: a numerically controlled two-axis machine
Step 2. Selection of the$bre paths for axisymmetric parts and a robotic filament winding
machine for more complex parts.
Fibre paths are calculated in the CAWAR program.
The fibres should be placed adjacent to each other to
obtain a full and uniform coverage. A distinction is made Two-axis numerically controlled machine
between tubelike and asymmetric parts. For axisym-
The first axis of the two-axis winding machine is the
metric and tubelike parts, one fibre path can be repeated
all over the circumference of the part. This fibre path mandrel drive, the second an oscillating arm. The
oscillating arm rotates in a vertical plane parallel to the
must be chosen so that the restrictions on fibre bridging
and slippage are always fulfilled”. Such a path cannot winding axis (Figure 4). The pay-out eye is mounted at
be found for completely asymmetric parts: in this case, the end of the arm, and therefore moves on a circle in a
vertical plane. The length of the oscillating arm can be
all paths have to be calculated individually.
In order to obtain an optimal strength, the fibres adjusted as a function of the mandrel dimensions. The
impregnation bath is stationary. The main advantage of
should be aligned as well as possible with the optimal
fibre directions, which are derived from the stress analysis this machine is that the inertia of the arm is very small,
compared with the inertia of the carriage in a
on the isotropic model. However, this is not always
possible, due to the restrictions of slippage and bridging.

Step 3. Determination of laminate lay-up

The sequence in which the fibre paths are wound is
determined, and the laminate lay-up of the wound part
is generated as input for the finite element model. The
fibre path data have to be translated towards laminate
data (i.e., ply angles and ply thicknesses) for the elements
of the finite element mesh. For tubelike parts, the
laminate data can be calculated for each element, starting
from the basic fibre path, which is repeated over the
circumference. For asymmetric parts, the laminate data
are derived from the data of each fibre path individually.
The isotropic input file for the FEA program is updated
with the laminate data” (Figure 1).
If elements are too thin. suoolementarv fibre oaths are
generated or the existingm&brkriaths are adapted. Figure 4 Two-axis filament winding machine

18 Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994

 quality control, using the ultrasonic C-scanning method,
for instance.
The robotic winding cell has to be constructed so that
all the task requirements can be fulfilled. The major task
requirements for the tape winding process are as follows.
1) The delivery point in the pay-out eye e must lie on
the tangent to the fibre path in the contact point p
(Figure 5). The distance between p and e is called the
free length.
Figure 5 Position of the pay-out eye 2) The band width must be constant. The axis a’ of the
rolls, between which the tape is guided, m_ust therefore
be normal to the tangent to the fibre path t (Figure 5).
conventional Cartesian filament winding machine, SO 3) All collisions have to be avoided. The collisions which
that higher winding speeds can be obtained. With this can occur during winding are shown in Figure 6, the
most likely ones being interactions between the robot
machine cylinders, pressure vessels and spinning pots’ structure and the mandrel structure. Other possible
have been wound successfully.
In the first design of the machine, the spindle rotates collisions are robot-tool interactions (e.g., between
the entry of the pay-out eye and the arm of the robot).
at a constant speed, and the oscillating arm is controlled
The position of the pay-out eye must also be attainable
as a slave of the spindle. In this case, high accelerations
occur in the oscillating arm and in the fibre feed in zones by the robot.
where the mandrel geometry changes severely. By Collisions occur during winding if the part has
applying a variable winding speed, these accelerations convex/concave areas, or if the free length is too small
in zones with large radii of curvature.
can be decreased, while increasing winding speed.
Starting from the points of the fibre path, the angular The collisions have to be avoided so that all the
task requirements remain fulfilled. Collisions can be
positions of the winding axis and the oscillating arm are
avoided by changing the free length or the orientation
determined. The velocities of both axes are determined
in such a way that the global winding time is minimized, of the axis of the pay-out eye.
Collision control in filament winding is not much
while maintaining as constant a winding speed as discussed in the literature, and, if it is discussed, the
possible.
A personal computer (PC) controls both axes. The problem is mostly restricted to collision detection7s8.
PC sends control data to the amplifiers of both motors Wells’ rejects paths if collision is detected; Barking’
at constant time intervals. Control of the axes is based decreases the free length if the distance between the
on position feedforward, combined with feedback pay-out eye and the axisymmetric mandrel becomes
control. The feedforward control is based on an too small.
4) The tape must be delivered without folding or
estimation of the system’s transfer function.
The two-axis winding machine was originally designed wrinkling. The tape will fold up if the tape twist angle,
to wind with individual rovings, but is being adapted to i.e., the rotation about the length axis of the tape,
becomes too high.
wind with multiple rovings.
Design of the robotic tape winding cell
Robotic filament winding cell
The robotic tape winding cell consists of a stationary
The two-axis winding machine is designed to wind fibre feeding unit (tension control unit and impregnation
axisymmetric parts but can wind basically every bath), a PUMA-762 robot and a mandrel support unit
asymmetric shape, provided that the fibre paths do not with mandrel drive (Figure 7). The pay-out eye is attached
intersect the mandrel. For more complex parts, a machine to the end-effector flange of the PUMA-762. In order to
with more degrees of freedom is desired. Computer- maintain a constant band width, the pay-out eye is
controlled filament winding machines may have up to provided with a rotation about the tape feeding axis. The
seven axes12-14. Practically all machines resemble lathes: basic material is a 25 mm wide unidirectional glass fibre
the spindle rotates the mandrel, and the pay-out eye is tape. The tape is impregnated during winding, so that
mounted on the carriage. The carriage can have up to this process can be described as a ‘wet tape winding’
three translations (transverse carriage and horizontal and process.
vertical cross-feed), and up to three rotations for the During rotation about the tape feeding axis, the tape
pay-out eye. Winding machines with multiple degrees of must be delivered without folding. A flexible ladder,
freedom are produced in small quantities, and are
therefore very expensive.
Investment costs can be reduced by replacing the
carriage of the filament winding machine by a robot’ ‘*16. mandrel
pin rings pay-out eye
The pay-out eye is then mounted on the end flange of chuck I
the robot. The application of a robot increases the
flexibility of the cell, due to the off-line programming headstock
capabilities of the robot. The inertia of the robot is tailstock robot an

generally smaller than the inertia of the carriage of a

position outside (theoretical) working envelope robot
winding machine, so that higher winding speeds can be
obtained”. The robot can also be used for other tasks, limits of joint values ezceeded

such as loading and unloading the mandrel and for Figure 6 Collisions during filament winding

Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994 19

 9 shows the different steps in generation of the robot
program.
Step 1. Calibration Before starting the calcula-
tions, the position of the winding machine and mandrel
with respect to the robot is determined. This is performed
by measuring the position of three points in the robot
world coordinate system with a tool, which is attached
to the robot end-effector: first, the position of two points
on the winding axis is determined, and then the position
of a point on the mandrel, which is projected on the
winding axis. At the start of the winding process, the
mandrel is rotated about the winding axis to a reference
pose.
Step 2. Attainability test The mandrel has to be
positioned so that the part can be wound. The
attainability of the most critical points, such as the ends
of the mandrel of long cylindrical parts, is checked before
calculating the robot path.
Step 3. Minimum winding angle If the mandrel is
too close to the chucks, a collision-free pay-out eye
position cannot be found if the winding angle is too small,
i.e., when the tangent to the fibre path is almost parallel
to the winding axis.
Step 4. Calculation of the robot path The calcula-
tion of the robot path is the most important step in

Figure 7 Robotic tape winding cell

consisting of two cables connected with transversal bars

(Figure 8), guides the tape without wrinkling through the
pay-out eye. The tape is guided over and under the bars.
The ladder is able to store tape twists up to 360”.
The robotic tape winding cell has eight degrees of
freedom: six degrees of freedom of the PUMA-762, and Figure 8 Pay-out eye
two external axes. The task requirements fix only three
variables (two for the tangent and a third for the
orientation of the delivery rolls). To efficiently avoid
collisions, three degrees of freedom (the free length and calibration data
t
two rotations for the pay-out eye axis) are needed: the
most critical case occurs in concave zones, where the axis change position
of winding machine
of the pay-out eye has to be made normal to the surface
to avoid collisions between the exit rolls of the pay-out
eye and the mandrel.
So, only six degrees of freedom are needed for winding.
The robotic cell has thus two redundant degrees of
freedom. To cope with this redundancy, two rotations of change sequence -.
the robot wrist are not used: the normal to the robot
end-effector flange is always held vertically downwards.
The pay-out eye axis, which is perpendicular to the change set-up
normal to the robot end flange, is then horizontal
(Figure 7).

Of-line robot program

The collision-free winding program is generated com-
pletely off-line. Starting from the data of the fibre paths,
the data sent to the robot controller are calculated. Figure Figure 9 Generation of the winding program

20 Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994

the generation of the robot program. For axisymmetric
parts, the robot path is calculated for one fibre path and
continuously repeated. For asymmetric parts, the robot
path is calculated for a specified sequence of fibre paths.
The position of the pay-out eye is determined so that
all the task requirements are fulfilled. The most severe
problems during calculation of the robot path are the
avoidance of collisions and control of tape twisting.
A heuristic collision avoidance method has been
developed to avoid collisions between, on the one hand,
the mandrel and the supports, and, on the other hand,
robot and pay-out eye (solid arrows in Figure 6), and to
bring the position inside the theoretical working envelope
of the robot”.
When winding axisymmetric parts, the tape twist never
exceeds 90”. Tape twists can become much higher when
winding asymmetric parts; for example, during winding
of a cylinder with an axis perpendicular to the winding
axis. Tape twists can be reduced by a ‘twist-compensating
motion’; i.e., a synchronized rotation of both mandrel
and pay-out eye about the winding axis over 360”, against \
the direction of the tape twist. In this way, a twist from
Figure 10 Robotic ultrasonic scanning cell
say 270” is reduced to -90”. This twist-compensating
motion is only possible when the mandrel is supported
at the headstock, and not on the tailstock. In this case, pulse-echo method with water jet transmission”. In this
a free zone is available between mandrel and tailstock, method, the transducer sends ultrasonic pulses into the
where the pay-out eye is not hindered during its rotation object and the amplitude of the reflection of the back
about the winding axis. Tape twists can also be stored surface of the object is measured. This method requires
behind pin rings, which are mounted at the ends of the a constant distance between transducer and object, and
mandrel, and which are cut away after curing. a constant object thickness.
Step 5. Simulation The heuristic model, which has The ultrasonic transducer is mounted in a squirter,
been developed to avoid collisions, does not incorporate which is attached to the end-effector flange of the robot
all collisions (e.g., collisions between the robot arm and (Figure 10). The transducer is moved in a rectilinear
pay-out eye are not included). To check on these pattern at a constant distance normal over the surface”.
collisions, the motion of the robot is simulated in a robot A constant distance is achieved by making contact
simulation system (e.g., IGRIP”). If a collision is between the surface and the squirter. A spring between
detected, the position of the winding machine is the transducer and the end-effector flange of the robot
altered. compensates for errors in the robot path and the model
Step 6. Robot trajectory The robot path only of the composite object. The robot is controlled by the
contains data on positions, not on velocities. The robot PC, which is also used for winding.
trajectory is determined so that the maximum joint The programming method is similar to the program-
velocities and accelerations are not exceeded, and the ming of the winding process. A mesh of points and
winding speed is as constant as possible. Calculation of normals is generated on the surface of the composite part
the robot trajectory is performed in two steps: first, the in the CAD system. The poses of the robot are calculated,
maximum velocity to trace the path is calculated, and and transmitted to the PC. During scanning, a
consecutively robot poses at constant time intervals are supplementary interpolation is performed between the
determined, so that the maximum velocity is not mesh poses to obtain the desired scanning accuracy. After
exceeded. scanning, the ultrasonic measuring data are visualized
Step 7. Robot control The PUMA-762 robot is a on a workstation.
relatively old robot, and its controller is not able to Several parts were scanned. The results with wound
synchronize the robot directly with one or more external parts were not so good, due to the rough outside surface
axes. The ALTER mode of VAL-II, the programming of wound parts”.
language of the PUMA-762, is used to synchronize the
external axes with the robot. A PC sends in this mode
data to the robot and the two external axes at constant EXAMPLE: T-PIECE
time intervals.
The robot trajectory data, which have been calculated The design and manufacturing methodology has been
on a VAX computer, are converted to the format required validated for a tape-wound T-piece.
by the ALTER mode, and downloaded in the PC, which Composite T-pieces are very interesting, because they
controls the winding process. have a much better corrosion resistance than metal
T-pieces. The T-piece (Figure 11) is modelled with eight
QUALITY CONTROL: ROBOTIC different surfaces: four cylinders (1,2,3,6), two torus
ULTRASONIC C-SCANNING CELL segments (4,5) and two bounded planes (7,8). Pin rings
are mounted at the three ends of the T-piece.
The PUMA-762 is also used for quality control. The part The torus segments are convex/concave, and cause
is checked for defects with an ultrasonic C-scan problems during both design and production. During

Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994 21

 paths from type C are selected in such a way that their
mutual distance at two reference curves (the right edge
of cylinder 1 and the lower edge of cylinder 6) equals the
tape width. The paths are not completely parallel: they
converge in the top of torus segment 5, and diverge at
cylinders 1 and 6 (Figure 13).
A helical pattern is used to cover the horizontal
cylinder and the lower side of the two torus segments.
For spots of the T-piece that are not covered by one of
the two selected winding patterns, such as the top of
planes 7 and 8, additional geodesics are selected.
Figure 11 T-piece with geodesics of type K and C
The mandrel is made from a removable material, e.g.,
wax. The base mould is produced with a CNC machine,
starting from the CAD surface model of the part. The
6 80 T-piece is only supported at the headstock, to allow the
6 70 ii iAil reduction of tape twists by a synchronized rotation of
mandrel and pay-out eye. The planes 7 and 8 are used
F 60
50 8 mm
DDC
as reference for the pose of the mandrel at the start of
the winding process: the mandrel is rotated so that the
planes are vertical.
During calculation of the robot paths, the convex/
concave torus segments cause collisions between the
pay-out eye and mandrel. Excessive tape twists occur
when winding round a cylinder which is perpendicular
to the winding axis. These twists are compensated by the
-50
-60
twist-compensating motion or are stored behind the pin
-70 rings.
-80 Two T-pieces have been wound successfully: a dry
30 60 90 T-piece, which is shown in Figure 14, and a wet-wound
starting position
T-piece.
mde surface sequence code
K 1 641 iI A
L 64721 B j47582841
M 6472841 C 6472853
N 6475841 D

V
U 6475823
64753 Ei 6472856
w 6472841
6472857... t
64.72858... 6 6 4 7 5 8 2 7...
X 6472847... 7

Figure 12 Trajectory map for T-piece

design, avoidance of fibre bridging is a serious problem; Figure 13 First pattern of quasi-parallel geodesic paths
during calculation of the fibre path, collisions between
pay-out eye and mandrel have to be avoided.
The T-piece is wound using tapes. Thus only geodesics
are allowed.
The trajectories of the different geodesics possible on
the T-piece have been investigated. Figure 12 shows a
trajectory map, in which the starting position, which
varies along the lower edge of the vertical cylinder 6, is
given as the abscissa and the winding angle is given as
ordinate. Geodesics are represented by their surface
sequence, i.e., the sequence of the surfaces the geodesic
crosses. For instance, a geodesic of type K (Figure 11)
has as surface sequence 6-4-l: it starts at cylinder 6,
crosses torus 4 and ends at cylinder 1. Fibre bridging
occurs for all paths of type K on torus 4. Geodesics, for
which fibre bridging occurs, are shaded in the map, and
have to be excluded. In Figure 12, only 26% of the
geodesics are free from fibre bridging. The main design
problem is therefore the selection of bridging-free fibre
paths that cover the surface completely. Only the
trajectory types A, B, C and D are bridging-free. Fibre Figure 14 Tape wound T-piece

22 Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994

CONCLUSIONS 8 Wells, GM. and McAnulty, K. F. ‘Computer aided filament
winding using non-geodesic trajectories’ Proc 6th Im Conf on
Composite Materials (1987) pp 1.161-1.173
A computer-integrated winding environment has been 9 Tornincasa, S., Ippolito, R. and Bellomo, N. ‘New trends in robotics:
generated round the winding process. This process the robotized lay up of carbon fiber tapes on surfaces with large
encompasses design, production and quality control. curvature’ Proc 2Ith Symp on Industrial Robotics (IFS, 1990) pp
During design, CAD, FEA and fibre path calculation 215-220
10 Scholliers, J. ‘Robotic filament winding of asymmetric parts’ PhD
techniques are integrated. A computer program has been Dissertation (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1992)
developed for the calculation of semi-geodesic fibre paths 11 Lassie, M. ‘Production oriented design of filament wound
on general surfaces. composites’ PhD Dissertation (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
A robotic tape winding unit has been developed. The 1990)
12 Peters, S.T., Humphrey, W.D. and Foral, R.F. Filament
collision-free winding program is generated completely Winding-Composite Strucrure Fabricarion (SAMPE, Covina, CA,
off-line. To avoid collisions, a heuristic method has been 1991)
developed. Tape twists are controlled by a twist- 13 Schwartz, M.M. Composite Materials Handbook (McGraw-Hill
compensating method or are stored behind pin rings. Book Company, New York, 1983)
14 Elegante, T.L. ‘Filament winding’ Mech Engng (December 1986)
The program has been validated by winding a T-piece
pp 32-36
with tapes. 15 Munro, M. ‘Review of manufacturing of fiber composite
Quality control is performed with a robotic ultrasonic components by filament winding’ Po/ym Composites 9 No 5 (1988)
C-scanning method. pp 352-359
16 Hille, E. A. ‘Faserwickeltechnik-Methoden zur Herstellung
Geometrisch Komplizierten Bauteile’ PhD Dissertation (Rhein-
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AUTHORS
complex shape filament-wound structures’ Composites Manyfur-
wing 3 No 1 (1992) pp 53-58 The authors are with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
Samuel, A.E. and Burvill, C.R. ‘Tracing surfaces with a robot Division of Production Engineering, Machine Design &
manipulator’ Proc 5th In1 Conf on Advanced Robotics (IEEE, 1991) Automation, Celestijnenlaan 300B, B-3001 Heverlee
pp 493-499
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Composites Manufacturing No 1 1994 23