Establishment of a Manufacturing Process for the Production of Boron/Epoxy Tape

摘要

This report covers work done on a program to establish an improved manufacturing process for boron/epoxy tape, specifically oriented towards the production of prepreg tapes for automatic tape laying machines. The program efforts were directed toward the achievement of tape width control and centered tape placement on carrier, and selection of carriers having suitable tack relationships with the prepreg. The width control and tape placement aspects of the program consisted of the selection and installation of instrumentation on the existing tape forming equipment to enable the dimensional toler- ances to be maintained during on-line operation. A number of short tape rolls were prepared for test operation on the Conrac tape laying machine at Convair, Fort Worth during which the effects of method of tape roll windup and carrier surface finish were investigated. It was concluded that the boron tape wound outermost on a differential release type of carrier was the most satisfactory manner of roll assembly. Specifications were prepared for both the tape making process and product requirement for the Conrac machine. In the last phase of the program, seven demonstration rolls, six having a length of 350 feet, and one having a length of 1200 feet, were submitted for detailed evaluation on the Conrac machine. One of the demonstra-tion rolls was made with 5.6 mil fibers, and one roll used the 5209 resin system (250 F cure) as a matrix with 4 mil fibers. The other rolls consisted of 4 mil fiber with the standard 5505 system as matrix. (Author-PL)