Optimum slippage dependent, non-geodesic fiber path determination for a filament wound composite nozzle

Abstract

One of the main advantages of the filament winding (FW) process is the optimized fiber deposition, even though it is limited by the kinematics of the process and mandrel geometry. The determination of the optimum fiber path is a key challenge in the design of the FW process. In this work, the fiber path for composite nozzles is determined to seek the improvement of specific mechanical properties. The path determination follows differential geometry definitions and the shell internal stresses are calculated via both netting analysis and classical lamination theory. Both geodesic and non-geodesic fiber paths are considered. Obtained results show that the wound nozzle with a non-geodesic trajectory increases the ratio between the stress in the fiber direction and both shear stress and the one acting in the parallel direction, improving its mechanical performance with respect to the Tsai-Wu failure criterion. Moreover, the closer the trajectory is to the obtained by the netting analysis, the better when considering the aforementioned criterion