Prediction and Optimization of Process Parameters for Composite Thermoforming Using a Machine Learning Approach

Thermoforming is a process where the laminated sheet is pre-heated to the desired forming temperature before being pressed and cooled between the molds to give the final formed part. Defects such as wrinkles, matrix-smear or ply-splitting could occur if the process is not optimized. Traditionally, for thermoforming of fiber-reinforced composites, engineers would either have to perform numerous physical trial and error experiments or to run a large number of high-fidelity simulations in order to determine satisfactory combinations of process parameters that would yield a defect-free part. Such methods are expensive in terms of equipment and raw material usage, mold fabrication cost and man-hours. In the last decade, there has been an ongoing trend of applying machine learning methods to engineering problems, but none for woven composite thermoforming. In this paper, two applications of artificial neural networks (ANN) are presented. The first is the use of ANN to analyze full-field contour results from simulation so as to predict the process parameters resulting in the quality of the formed product. Results show that the developed ANN can predict some input parameters reasonably well from just inspecting the images of the thermoformed laminate. The second application is to optimize the process parameters that would result in a quality part through the objectives of minimizing the maximum slip-path length and maximizing the regions of the laminate with a predesignated shear angle range. Our results show that the ANN can provide reasonable optimization of the process parameters to yield improved product quality. Overall, the results from the ANNs are encouraging when compared against experimental data. The image analysis method proposed here for machine learning is novel for composite manufacturing as it can potentially be combined with machine vision in the actual manufacturing operation to provide active feedback to ensure quality products.