  When (robotic) Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) is used to manufacture
aerospace components with complex three dimensional geometries, gaps between
fibre tows can occur. This paper is the first to explore the interaction under
compressive load of these tow gaps with impact damage. Two coupons with
different distributions of tow-gaps were impacted. Results indicated that the
area of delamination is smaller for an impact directly over a tow gap where the
tow gap is situated close to the non-impact face. Subsequent Compression After
Impact (CAI) testing demonstrated that both the formation of sublaminate
buckles and subsequent growth of delaminations is inhibited by the presence of
a tow gap near the non-impact face. Non-destructive testing techniques and a
computationally efficient infinite Strip model are used to analyse the damage
resistance and damage tolerance of the coupons. A new validation of the Strip
model is also presented.
