Abstract
Filament winding processing has been applied to produce composite rings on the basis of FIT-tows. Important steps in the process are the preheating of the tow within an infrared (IR) preheater and the subsequent heating by hot air at the consolidation point. To assess the bonding quality achieved by this process, axial compression and in-plane shear strength measurements of curved samples (sections of the rings wound) have been made. Furthermore results of modelling the heating processes of the tow are provided with the aim to draw conclusions about the preheater length, IR-power, and temperature of the heating air at the consolidation point. (Author)