Influence of tension in T300/epoxy prepreg winding process on the performance of the bearing composites

In recent years, composite bearings are increasingly employed in marine and heavy load situations due to the specific properties of composites. However, for the tape winding composite bearings, the tension in process has not been studied in depth. In this study, a device was manufactured to apply tension to the process and the prepreg tape was T300/epoxy. Specimens with different tension values were selected for the experiment and the autoclave technology was applied to the curing process. Then, the appearance image and roundness of the bearing composites were acquired. Meanwhile, physical and mechanical properties of the specimen as well as the residual stress were measured. The experimental results show that the influence of tension in winding process on bearing composites is significant and the optimum tension can be defined. Subsequently, the article analyzes the function of the tension and it is concluded that the wrinkles and waves on the surface of the T300/epoxy bearing composites can be eliminated using proper method and the optimum tension should be determined through testing and experiment.