On prepreg properties and manufacturability

This study considers the effect of prepreg propertieson the manual layup process. Commercial prepregswere characterised in terms of shear behaviour, tackand flexural rigidity. The materials were then laid upby professional laminators on a series ofincreasingly challenging moulds, and the time takento lay up each material was used as a metric of layupperformance. It was found that there is a positivecorrelation between shear angle and layup time.Considerable differences (up to a factor of 2) in timetaken to lay up different materials were also seen.The measured properties were used as predictors in alinear model to determine layup time, where it wasfound that shear energy and tack are significant.Lastly, some implications for the design andmanufacture of composite components arediscussed