Automated fibre placementAFP

A machine process that deposits wide unidirectional prepreg tape onto flat or gently contoured tooling, cutting and restarting the tape automatically at ply boundaries. It achieves very high lay-down rates on large, low-curvature parts such as wing skins and panels.

Reinforcement fibre pre-impregnated with a controlled quantity of resin, usually a partially cured (B-staged) thermoset, supplied in rolls and stored chilled or frozen until layup. Prepregs give precise fibre and resin content and are the standard material form for high-performance aerospace and motorsport laminates.

A process in which continuous fibre tows, wetted with resin or pre-impregnated, are wound under tension onto a rotating mandrel in controlled patterns and then cured. It is the standard method for pressure vessels, pipes, tanks and other axisymmetric structures.

A bundle of thousands of continuous carbon filaments handled as a single unit, the carbon fibre equivalent of a glass roving. Tows are designated by their filament count in thousands, written with a K, and are used directly in filament winding, automated fibre placement and weaving.