ABSTRACT
In the filament winding process, a band of continuous resin-impregnated fiber rovings or tows is wound under tension around a rotating mandrel in a preselected fiber orientation pattern to produce hollow continuous fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite parts. There are two different types of filament winding processes: wet winding and dry winding. Conventional two-axis helical filament winding machines use a driving motor to rotate the mandrel and a chain and a sprocket to move the carriage back and forth parallel to the mandrel surface. Most filament winding machines are two-axis machines with a rotating mandrel and traversing carriage, and they produce axisymmetric parts. To facilitate mandrel extraction, collapsible mandrels, either segmented or inflatable, are used for products in which the end closures are integrally wound, as in the case of pressure vessels. The important process parameters in a filament winding operation are the winding speed, fiber delivery, fiber tension control, resin impregnation and fiber wet-out, and fiber band formation.
