Part form prediction methods for carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite materials

This paper introduces predictive technologies for carbon fibre reinforced plastics which can be integrated with assembly simulations for the purpose of understanding the applicability of thermoplastic based systems for use in sustainable transport systems. The process-induced deformation during thermoforming could affect the final shape and dimensions of a composite part and this is a significant factor when using clash detection during the build validation stage of an assembly simulation. In this work formula calculation and simulation strategy are presented for the study of the deformation behaviour of a 90°, V-shaped angle manufactured using carbon fibre reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (PPS). The experiment processing conditions were re-created in a virtual environment and analysed using the finite element method. The simulation can predict more accurate result than simplified equation but is still about 15% lower than the corresponding experimental data. The error induced in the simulation result is caused by the material property which is modelled by combining carbon fibre and PPS test data rather than woven lamina. Simulated 'as manufactured' part forms have been successfully transferred to a digital manufacturing environment where they can be used for more realistic build validations.