Post-Forming of Carbon Fibre-Reinforced PEEK Thermoplastic Tubular Structures

Abstract

This paper presents a post-forming technique utilising both induction heating and rotary draw bending (RDB) for carbon fibre-reinforced polyetherentherketone (CF/PEEK) tubular structures. Existing post-forming techniques are unable to form CF/PEEK tubes due to the lack of a suitable mandrel material to provide internal support to the tube while withstanding high heat from melting the PEEK matrix during forming. This is addressed by using a steel spring mandrel in the tube induction heating process. In this study, four sets of [±60°]4 CF/PEEK tubes were formed using an induction heater-incorporated RDB setup into 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180° bends with a bending ratio of 2. Optical characterisation was performed to analyse tube fibre angle changes. A post-forming fibre angle prediction model previously derived for CF/polyamide 6 tubes was validated for its application in predicting fibre angle changes for CF/PEEK tubes by comparing the prediction with the characterised results.