Associate Professor Mehran Tehrani’s team is pioneering advancements in Automated Fiber Placement (AFP), a cutting-edge technique in aerospace composite manufacturing. They have applied AFP to high-performance thermoplastic composites – materials known for their exceptional toughness, chemical resistance, and the ability to be re-melted, facilitating thermal welding, repairs, and potential recycling.
In this study, published under the title "Inter- and Intra-Laminar Properties of an AFP Post-Processed Thermoplastic Composite", the team utilized lasers to melt the composites during AFP, a method showing great promise for producing large-scale thermoplastic structures like fuselages and wings. They introduced an innovative post-processing step – low-pressure compression molding – which expands the range of mechanical properties tested in these materials. This approach not only enhances performance but also accelerates the adoption of AFP in high-value industries.
The first author of this paper is Timothy Yap, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Structural Engineering at UC San Diego. This paper was honored with 2nd Place in the Outstanding Technical Paper Awards at the SAMPE 2024 conference, a prestigious event attended by leading aerospace companies and academic institutions. Selected from approximately 200 submissions – including those from Boeing, NASA, and top universities – their work compares the performance of in-situ processed and post-processed samples. The results suggest that this technology is viable for manufacturing in space and that fast, low-energy post-treatments can yield excellent properties suitable for aerospace and automotive applications.