Continuous Fibre Reinforcements in Injection Moulded Composites

Abstract: The use of continuously reinforced thermoplastics have increased in recent years andoffer some significant advantages over their thermoset counterparts. The utilizationof these materials is however still limited due to the labour intensive processingand manufacturing. In the first part of this thesis, the aim is to investigate howcontinuously reinforced thermoplastics can be used in high volume manufacturingof complex components, specifically when combined with injection moulding. Thesecond part will attempt to develop a conceptual manufacturing process and designof a demonstrator part and perform a structural analysis of the component.To answer the first question, an extensive literature study on continuous fibre materialsand thermoplastics was conducted along with research on established and newlydeveloped manufacturing methods such as automated tape laying and fibre placement,tailored fibre placement and 3D printing combined with injection overmoulding. Theconceptual manufacturing process of the demonstrator part was then based on thisresearch and the design was modeled in using finite element analysis.The results shows that continuously reinforced thermoplastics can be used forhigh volume manufacturing of complex components when combined with injectionmoulding. While some of the processing methods are still in an early developmentstage, the techniques have been tested and implemented. The structural analysis of thedemonstrator part shows that the design can withstand the maximum external loadsthus and provide proof of concept.