Abstract: Based on research for automatic tape-laying (ATL), a design concept of path generation with the ATL process is advanced for composite material cylinder components. According to the special characteristic of the ATL process, an numerical control (NC) code stipulation is proposed for it. On the basis of a study of the ATL processing CAD/CAM techniques, a special CAD/CAM software is designed for large cylinder composite components, and experiments are performed with the ATL equipment developed by the researchers. This ATL machine special CAD/CAM software is validated through the experiments of tape-laying, and the practical need for large cylinder composite component manufacture is satisfied.

Key words: automatic tape-laying (ATL), cylinder, CAD, CAM, composites