Advanced hybrid composites: Integrating carbon fiber tape into glass fiber thermoplastics via automated tape placement overmolding

Georges Chahine; Abdallah Barakat; Brandon White; Benjamin Schwartz; Umesh Marathe; Pritesh Yeole; Ahmed Arabi Hassen; Uday Vaidya

doi:10.1177/08927057251351560

Advanced hybrid composites: Integrating carbon fiber tape into glass fiber thermoplastics via automated tape placement overmolding

Georges Chahine
, Abdallah Barakat
, Brandon White
, Benjamin Schwartz
, Umesh Marathe
, Pritesh Yeole
, Ahmed Arabi Hassen
, Uday Vaidya

Composites Innovation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composites have gained significant attention in various industries due to their desirable properties, including ease of processing, recyclability, superior strength, and corrosion resistance. Glass fiber (GF) is commonly used as a reinforcing material in LFT composites, given its low cost and excellent mechanical properties. However, there are challenges associated with the existing manufacturing processes, such as fiber attrition and limitations in achieving anisotropic properties. In this study, the overmolding of glass fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide long fiber thermoplastic (G-LFT) and unidirectional continuous carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide tape (CF-Tape) using an Automated Tape Placement (ATP) robotic system has been investigated. The aim is to explore the potential of ATP for improving the mechanical properties of LFT composites. The results reveal that the overmolding process using CF-Tape on G-LFT leads to significant enhancements in mechanical performance. A 129% increase in tensile strength and a 192% improvement in flexural strength were observed compared to the G-LFT baseline. The bond strength at the interface was evaluated through flatwise tensile testing, which resulted in partial failure within the CF-Tape and a measured bond strength of 7.52 MPa ± 0.34. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were conducted to analyze the thermal behavior of the parts. The crystallinity was measured using DSC data, and a value of 33.4% was obtained. Low-velocity impact testing has been conducted to understand the dynamic behavior of G-LFT and G-LFT/CF-Tape. The impact energy absorbed was found to be similar in both cases. A numerical model was used to reduce the number of experiments. It was found that the flexural strength would improved by 60% by adding five layers of CF-Tape. In summary, this research contributes to expanding the knowledge of overmolding techniques and highlights the potential of ATP-based overmolding for for enhancing the localized strength and easily applied to intricate geometries.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	504-531
Number of pages	28
Journal	Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials
Volume	39
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/08927057251351560
State	Published - Feb 2026

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the IACMI: A22-1469, SEAMTN: HQ00052110069 and National Science Foundation: NSF-2052738. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05–00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). The Authors gratefully acknowledge the Institute of Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) under award number A22-1469. Additionally, authors want to thank Southeastern advanced machine tools network (SEAMTN) under award number HQ00052110069 for funding a part of the project and National Science Foundation (NSF), Industry-University Cooperative Research Centre (IUCRC) under grand number NSF-2052738 for offering technical assistance and resources. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05–00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). The Authors gratefully acknowledge the Institute of Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) under award number A22-1469. Additionally, authors want to thank Southeastern advanced machine tools network (SEAMTN) under award number HQ00052110069 for funding a part of the project and National Science Foundation (NSF), Industry-University Cooperative Research Centre (IUCRC) under grand number NSF-2052738 for offering technical assistance and resources. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by the IACMI: A22-1469, SEAMTN: HQ00052110069 and National Science Foundation: NSF-2052738.

Keywords

Long fiber thermoplastic
automated tape placement
finite element analysis
micromechanics analysis
overmolding

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10.1177/08927057251351560

Cite this

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title = "Advanced hybrid composites: Integrating carbon fiber tape into glass fiber thermoplastics via automated tape placement overmolding",

abstract = "Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composites have gained significant attention in various industries due to their desirable properties, including ease of processing, recyclability, superior strength, and corrosion resistance. Glass fiber (GF) is commonly used as a reinforcing material in LFT composites, given its low cost and excellent mechanical properties. However, there are challenges associated with the existing manufacturing processes, such as fiber attrition and limitations in achieving anisotropic properties. In this study, the overmolding of glass fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide long fiber thermoplastic (G-LFT) and unidirectional continuous carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide tape (CF-Tape) using an Automated Tape Placement (ATP) robotic system has been investigated. The aim is to explore the potential of ATP for improving the mechanical properties of LFT composites. The results reveal that the overmolding process using CF-Tape on G-LFT leads to significant enhancements in mechanical performance. A 129\% increase in tensile strength and a 192\% improvement in flexural strength were observed compared to the G-LFT baseline. The bond strength at the interface was evaluated through flatwise tensile testing, which resulted in partial failure within the CF-Tape and a measured bond strength of 7.52 MPa ± 0.34. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were conducted to analyze the thermal behavior of the parts. The crystallinity was measured using DSC data, and a value of 33.4\% was obtained. Low-velocity impact testing has been conducted to understand the dynamic behavior of G-LFT and G-LFT/CF-Tape. The impact energy absorbed was found to be similar in both cases. A numerical model was used to reduce the number of experiments. It was found that the flexural strength would improved by 60\% by adding five layers of CF-Tape. In summary, this research contributes to expanding the knowledge of overmolding techniques and highlights the potential of ATP-based overmolding for for enhancing the localized strength and easily applied to intricate geometries.",

keywords = "Long fiber thermoplastic, automated tape placement, finite element analysis, micromechanics analysis, overmolding",

author = "Georges Chahine and Abdallah Barakat and Brandon White and Benjamin Schwartz and Umesh Marathe and Pritesh Yeole and Hassen, \{Ahmed Arabi\} and Uday Vaidya",

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AU - Chahine, Georges

AU - Barakat, Abdallah

AU - White, Brandon

AU - Schwartz, Benjamin

AU - Marathe, Umesh

AU - Yeole, Pritesh

AU - Hassen, Ahmed Arabi

AU - Vaidya, Uday

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025

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N2 - Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composites have gained significant attention in various industries due to their desirable properties, including ease of processing, recyclability, superior strength, and corrosion resistance. Glass fiber (GF) is commonly used as a reinforcing material in LFT composites, given its low cost and excellent mechanical properties. However, there are challenges associated with the existing manufacturing processes, such as fiber attrition and limitations in achieving anisotropic properties. In this study, the overmolding of glass fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide long fiber thermoplastic (G-LFT) and unidirectional continuous carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide tape (CF-Tape) using an Automated Tape Placement (ATP) robotic system has been investigated. The aim is to explore the potential of ATP for improving the mechanical properties of LFT composites. The results reveal that the overmolding process using CF-Tape on G-LFT leads to significant enhancements in mechanical performance. A 129% increase in tensile strength and a 192% improvement in flexural strength were observed compared to the G-LFT baseline. The bond strength at the interface was evaluated through flatwise tensile testing, which resulted in partial failure within the CF-Tape and a measured bond strength of 7.52 MPa ± 0.34. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were conducted to analyze the thermal behavior of the parts. The crystallinity was measured using DSC data, and a value of 33.4% was obtained. Low-velocity impact testing has been conducted to understand the dynamic behavior of G-LFT and G-LFT/CF-Tape. The impact energy absorbed was found to be similar in both cases. A numerical model was used to reduce the number of experiments. It was found that the flexural strength would improved by 60% by adding five layers of CF-Tape. In summary, this research contributes to expanding the knowledge of overmolding techniques and highlights the potential of ATP-based overmolding for for enhancing the localized strength and easily applied to intricate geometries.

AB - Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composites have gained significant attention in various industries due to their desirable properties, including ease of processing, recyclability, superior strength, and corrosion resistance. Glass fiber (GF) is commonly used as a reinforcing material in LFT composites, given its low cost and excellent mechanical properties. However, there are challenges associated with the existing manufacturing processes, such as fiber attrition and limitations in achieving anisotropic properties. In this study, the overmolding of glass fiber-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide long fiber thermoplastic (G-LFT) and unidirectional continuous carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide tape (CF-Tape) using an Automated Tape Placement (ATP) robotic system has been investigated. The aim is to explore the potential of ATP for improving the mechanical properties of LFT composites. The results reveal that the overmolding process using CF-Tape on G-LFT leads to significant enhancements in mechanical performance. A 129% increase in tensile strength and a 192% improvement in flexural strength were observed compared to the G-LFT baseline. The bond strength at the interface was evaluated through flatwise tensile testing, which resulted in partial failure within the CF-Tape and a measured bond strength of 7.52 MPa ± 0.34. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were conducted to analyze the thermal behavior of the parts. The crystallinity was measured using DSC data, and a value of 33.4% was obtained. Low-velocity impact testing has been conducted to understand the dynamic behavior of G-LFT and G-LFT/CF-Tape. The impact energy absorbed was found to be similar in both cases. A numerical model was used to reduce the number of experiments. It was found that the flexural strength would improved by 60% by adding five layers of CF-Tape. In summary, this research contributes to expanding the knowledge of overmolding techniques and highlights the potential of ATP-based overmolding for for enhancing the localized strength and easily applied to intricate geometries.

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KW - finite element analysis

KW - micromechanics analysis

KW - overmolding

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ER -

Advanced hybrid composites: Integrating carbon fiber tape into glass fiber thermoplastics via automated tape placement overmolding

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