Tolerance management for composite parts

Kurzfassung

Production of rotor blades for wind turbines is still a predominant manual process. In order to improve blade quality without significant increase of production costs, a combination of tolerance management and statistical process control is the favored way. A process model with both, analytical and numerical elements is developed based on statistical production data and experiments. The presentation will give an overview on process modeling based on key characteristics for rotor blades of wind turbines. Therefore, different modules have been developed. The actual examinations focus on simulation of temperature distribution for one-sided self-heated tools for thick laminates and its effects on process induced deformations. The model includes, among other things, the properties of the heating system and exothermic behavior of resin. The simulation is linked to experiments with varying process temperature and laminate thicknesses. The process induced deformations are documented by 3D measurements of parts and tooling for varying process parameters. Combined with modules for the behavior of fiber volume fraction we are targeting to build up a simulation model based on probabilistic production data with the opportunity of a continuous improvement process.