Thermoplastic composite consolidation

abrication of high-quality composites from thermoplastic prepregs requires careful selection of the processing cycles so that intimate contact at the ply interfaces is achieved resulting in the formation of strong interply bonds and the process-induced residual stress is minimized to ensure superior mechanical performance. The void formation and the consolidation mechanism were studied experimentally. A refined model was developed to relate the processing parameters of pressure, temperature and time to the interply intimate contact of thermoplastic composites. The model was developed by integrating a prepreg surface topology characterization with a resin flow analysis. Both unidirectional and cross-ply lay-ups were modeled. Two-ply unidirectional laminae fabricated from graphite-polysulfone and graphite-PEEK prepregs and (0/90/0)...