Deconsolidation of thermoplastic prepreg tapes during rapid laser heating

In this study, the effect of rapid laser heating, which is typical during laser-assisted fiber placement (LAFP), on micro- and meso- structure thermoplastic tape was investigated. Thermoplastic tapes were heated above melting temperature with different lengths (30 80 mm heating times (0.2 0.8 s) in a dedicated experimental setup. In-situ ex-situ characterization techniques used to observe differences between before after heating. The experiments resulted significant changes structure, namely increased out-of-plane deformation, waviness, arc-length width, roughness, thickness volumetric void content. This study shows for first time that unique deconsolidation behavior takes place phase LAFP: mechanisms are exacerbated by non-uniform at surface, caused roughness increase waviness formation.