AbstractThe on‐line consolidation process, using a single roller, in thermoplastic filament winding (tape laying) has been investigated. A one‐dimensional, semi‐empirical, on‐line consolidation process model is proposed that describes the deformation and flow phenomena. The model is used to predict the applied load necessary to achieve a desired fiber volume content of filament wound thermoplastic composite rings consolidated at various process conditions. Composite rings are fabricated from 50 layers of 12K carbon fiber tow APC‐2 tape (6 mm wide) on a 178 mm diameter mandrel. It was found that the winding speed had statistically significant effects on the void content, the fiber volume fraction, and the final thickness; whereas the applied load had a statistically significant effect on the final thickness. These results show the effect of shear thinning on the viscoelastic response of the material, facilitating faster processing speeds. The results of the experiments compared well to the consolidation model's pr