Trajectory generation for open-contoured structures in robotic fibre placement
Composites have become common engineering materials in industries where the strength to weight performance of structures is a key design consideration. The major limiting factors are the high-manufacturing costs and low-production rates. Robotic fibre placement (RFP) is one alternative process to overcome the limiting factors and it is generally suitable for open-continuous components. A novel path planning algorithm for open-contoured structures, entitled the surface curve algorithm for robotic fibre placement (SCAR) is proposed. The algorithm aims to produce a uniform lay-up of composite lamina, without gap and overlap between subsequent tows. A numerical investigation into the characteristics of the algorithm is performed and presented. The algorithm is implemented on complex contoured surface and some of the results are presented in this paper.
open-contoured structures robotic fibre placement composites path planning uniform lay-up