Study on fiber winding path design and trajectory planning for composite material helmet

Abstract

Conventional composite helmet manufacturing typically relies on manual lay-up preforming, which is labor-intensive, exhibits a low degree of automation, and suffers from low production efficiency and poor forming consistency due to operator-dependent variability. To address the limitations in forming efficiency and structural uniformity, this study proposes an integrated filament winding method based on non-geodesic and multi-intersection path planning. Through fifth-degree Bézier trajectory optimization, smooth and coordinated multi-axis motion control is achieved, enabling the simultaneous preforming of two helmet shells in a single winding cycle. This approach significantly reduces manual lay-up steps and improves production efficiency. Experimental results indicate that, with only a slight increase in forming time, the overall efficiency is enhanced by ∼90%. The wound fibers form a uniform and compact two-dimensional fabric structure on the helmet surface, satisfying the required protective performance. These findings demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed multi-intersection filament winding method, providing a novel technical route and theoretical basis for the efficient and automated manufacturing of complex curved composite components.