33 rd International SAMPE Technical Conference – Advancing Affordable Materials Technology. Nov. 5-8, 2001, Seattle, WA SELECTION OF OPTIMAL PROCESSING PARAMETERS IN FILAMENT WINDING P. Mertiny and F. Ellyin Advanced Composite Materials Engineering Group Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada, T6G 2G8 ABSTRACT Wet filament winding is widely used as a production method for fibre reinforced plastic tubular products. The resulting quality of the product can be characterised by parameters like fibre volume fraction, void content and mechanical properties under certain loading conditions. These quantities are functions of the initial characteristics of resin and fibres, processing parameters (e.g. fibre tension, resin temperature, number of fibre tows and winding speeds) and geometric parameters such as mandrel diameter and winding angle. These initial parameters determine other important secondary processing parameters, namely the layer thickness and the resulting bandwidth. Generally these secondary processing parameters are, at the same time, design requirements. It is therefore important to predetermine the proper material and processing parameters in order to produce parts with the desired characteristics and quality. The results of a study are presented in which the influence of processing parameters on the final part characteristics is investigated using video analysis and other techniques. The aim of this study is to contribute towards a more rational winding process optimisation method and to reduce the reliance on the current empirical approach. KEY WORDS: Filament Winding, Manufacturing/Fabrication/Processing, Pipe Products 1. INTRODUCTION Pressure retaining structures made from fibre reinforced polymeric composites like high pressure piping, tubulars and offshore risers promise superior properties regarding strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance. Despite these favourable properties, extensive use of fibre reinforced polymeric composites has not been made in the field of pressurised structures. The reason for this is the limited understanding of the material behaviour and damage development under complex loading (multiaxial, creep, fatigue) and environmental effects [1].