Continuous Trajectory Generation for the Automated Manufacturing of Super-Ellipsoidal Composite Pressure Vessels

acm7 Tracking Number 19

The demand for lightweight, high-performance composite structures has accelerated the adoption of automated fibre and tape placement technologies. However, manufacturing doubly curved geometries with non-conventional tow steering remains challenging due to the need for smooth, feasible, and robot-compatible trajectories. This work presents an integrated methodology for generating continuous AFP/LATP paths on super-ellipsoidal composite vessels using carbon-thermoplastic tape deposition. The framework transforms structural design prescriptions into continuous surface-embedded trajectories by combining analytical super-ellipsoidal geometry with a robust Darboux-frame formulation, which provides smooth tangent-normal-geodesic normal evolution and ensures a non-singular tool-frame definition across the entire surface. A polar-opening clipping algorithm enforces precise termination of all paths, while a closed-form inter-tape gap law quantifies coverage, overlap, and multi-pass behaviour across the full vessel surface. The entire methodology is implemented in MATLAB as a single, unified codebase that automates path generation and coverage assessment. The present work focuses exclusively on path planning and coverage evaluation, providing a coherent computational basis for generating continuous steered trajectories and quantifying inter-tape coverage on super-ellipsoidal vessels.