Production system to form, cut, and join by using a press machine for continuous carbon fiber‐reinforced thermoplastic sheets

To build a processing method for textile carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) sheets, a production system to form, cut, and join the sheets by using a mechanical servo press machine was developed and examined. The system's problems were analyzed, and attempts were made to solve them through a series of processes. In press forming, the effects of sheet geometry, fiber orientation, and slide motion on the forming of the variant‐cross‐sectional‐beam, which has a narrow and wide part, were investigated. In addition, the shear‐cutting method was chosen trimming the unnecessary region of the variant‐cross‐sectional‐beam. For the joining process, a thermal welding method that uses a heating‐plate was chosen. The closed‐sectional‐beam was fabricated by thermally welding a pair of the variant‐cross‐sectional‐beams. Finally, the potential of the production system for textile CFRTP sheets using the mechanical servo press machine was discussed. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2571–2586, 2018. © 2016 The Authors Polymer Composites published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Plastics Engineers