DEVELOPMENT OF THE DIRECT ROVING PLACEMENT TECHNOLOGY (DRP)

Abstract

The Direct Roving Placement (DRP) technology is in development at the Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). A fully functional robotic unit that is able to produce dry glass or carbon fiber preforms has been set up at the Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) in Stade. All relevant process and material parameters that have an influence on the mechanical properties of parts being built with the DRP technology, are investigated. The main advantages of this new fiber placement technology are low material costs and high productivity. The core of the technology, the end-effector, is able to process raw carbon fibers as well as glass fiber rovings. The biggest difference compared to other placement technologies is the integrated online binder application system. The binder system is used to keep the fiber rovings fixed in position, after they have been applied onto a three-dimensional tooling surface. In addition, the online application of a binder provides multiple options of individually tuning the mechanical properties of the preform or the final part.