Thermoforming Technology of Textile Composite Tubes

Thermoforming of fiber reinforced thermoplastic (FRTP) braided tubes was studied as a new forming technique. FRTP braided tubes with four plies are fabricated by the pressure bonding method are used in thermoforming. Bulge forming, bending process, pipe fittings and FE analysis are carried out in this study. In bulge forming the composite tube can be expanded up to about two times initial diameter. The suggested bending process can be obtained bent products with various bending radii. In pipe fitting it is possible to fabricate T-shape fitting, cross fitting and two-branch fitting. These results exhibit developed forming processes become useful processes for textile composite tubes.