Thermal modeling strategies for laser assisted tape winding (LATW) process

The laser assisted tape winding (LATW) is an automated process for manufacturing fibre-reinforced thermoplastic tubular products, such as pipes and pressure vessels. This process consists of several simultaneous physical phenomena including kinematic, optical and thermal behavior. Among these, the in-situ temperature-dependent consolidation of the tapes plays a vital role in the overall quality of the final product. Currently, a new model-based global approach is under development for industrialized production as a part of EU funded Horizon2020 ambliFibre project. There is a need for a highly efficient thermal model to capture the temperature distributions during the process. Therefore, in this study, the capabilities of the various thermal models are evaluated. The actual laser heat flux distribution is estimated from a comprehensive optical model and then subsequently coupled with the thermal model in order to obtain precise temperature distribution. The transient one-dimensional (1D) and 2D models are developed in a Lagrangian framework. The surface boundary conditions are moving with winding velocity and the mesh remains stationary. The transient approach is used by conventional finite volume (FV) method. The hoop winding process is quantified for various winding speeds using coupled optical-thermal models which have never been done up to now. Since the real LATW process includes many considerations that disturb the spatial temperature field, e.g., various winding angle and non-uniform laser heat influx, a 2D transient model is, therefore, convenient for the LATW process simulation. However, for hoop winding the 1D model is almost as accurate as the 2D model and less computationally expensive. The history of nip point temperature for 10 layers of the continues hoop winding is predicted. Also, the peak in the nip point temperature history which is a physical phenomenon taking place during the LATW process is explained.