Development of virtual production system for tape winding structures (1st Report, tape winding simulation and strength evaluation)

The strength of tape-wound structures depends on many factors such as winding angle and path. Because winding path cannot be obtained explicitly before production, it is very difficult to evaluate the strength. Therefore, a computer system for the design and analysis of wound structures has been developed. This system consists of calculating the winding path and generating a finite-element model to predict the strength. This paper focuses on the algorithm of winding simulation and the modeling method of complicatedly wound tape layers. As an example, design and FEM analysis are carried out for CFRP-tape-wound pipe. It is found that the developed system is very useful for design and safety evaluations of winding structures.