Control of Braid Pattern on Every Side of a Braided Composite Part Produced by Asymmetrical Braiding Process

Prediction and control of braid angle in braided composites is of great importance. Especially in producing new braided composite like braided lattice and braided actuator, controlling of braid angle in each point of the part is of great importance. This paper presents a method for controlling the braid angle on every side of a flat mandrel with the help of an elliptical guide ring to be added to the braiding machine. At first applicability of this elliptical guide ring is demonstrated by experiments and numerical simulations. To develop this method, first the theoretical relations are formulated. Once verified with experimental results, these relations are then used to develop a procedure for calculation of guide ring dimensions, take-up speed and mandrel eccentricity that yield the desired braid angles. In the end, these calculations are performed for several arbitrary angles and the results are reproduced by experiment.