Automated Composites Manufacturing

• Robotic strategies for fiber placement, heating systems, tape lay-up, vacuum bagging and more
• Real-time sensing techniques for process control and inspection
• Equipment design for AFP, 3-D braiding and other machinery
• Strategies for rapid and cost-effective composites with specialized geometries

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This book explains technologies for emergent robotic and computer-controlled fabrication of CFRP, woven, and other types of composite materials. Information is provided on how lay-up, heating, draping, stamp forming, braiding and weaving are carried out by specially designed equipment and how these processes are controlled with real-time data from sensors. Details are given on robotic process control, flaw detection, and quality engineering, as well as on new types of laminates and composites made possible by advanced automation. Technical information is relevant to designing and retrofitting composite manufacturing equipment. Research in the text was originally presented at a Concordia University symposium and is based on work done at German, Dutch, British, and Canadian universities and R&D centers.

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From the Preface
(This book) “Presents new methods for heating and new methods for inspection of the quality of the laminates as they are laid. Dry fibers and special laminate and structures deriving from automation (are) investigated. There are also new developments in draping, stamp forming, braiding and weaving…and work on process simulation.”

Preface
Organizing Committee

PART 1—ELEMENTS OF THE PLACEMENT MACHINES
• Dynamic Tool Center Point (DTCP) Implementing in Automated Fiber Placement (AFP)
Itzel De Jesus Gonzalez Ojeda, Olivier Patrouix and Yannick Aoustin
• Design of a Machine for Automated Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) Based Manufacturing Processes
Simon Konze, Sophia Elsner, Konrad Löschner, Peter Laabs, Lars Bittrich, Axel Spickenheuer and Gert Heinrich
• Integrated Design and Manufacturing Approach for a Faster and Easier Production of Rotor Blade Molds—Direct Tooling by BladeMaker
Ingo Gebauer, Heiko Rosemann and Christian Dörsch
• Introduction of a Multi Kinematic Gripping System for the Vacuum Bagging Process of Complex Shaped Aerospace Composite Structures
Clemens Schmidt-Eisenlohr, Michael Vistein and Lars Brandt

PART 2—HEATING SYSTEMS
• Fiber Placement and Tape Laying Through Continuous Ultrasonic Tacking: A Robust and Low Cost Alternative
Arnt Offringa and Jeroen Oosterhof
• Quantification of Tape Deconsolidation During Laser Assisted Fiber Placement
Thijs Kok, Wouter J. B. Grouve, Laurent L. Warnet and Remko Akkerman
• Continuous Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composite Plates
Genevieve Palardy, Frank Senders, Martijn Van Beurden and Irene Fernandez Villegas
• Automated Fiber Placement of Thermoplastic Composites Using Fiber Laser
Mehran Eimanlou and Mehdi Hojjati
• Xenon Flashlamp Heating for Automated Fibre Placement
David Williams and Martin Brown
• Resistance Seam Welding of Carbon Fiber Semi-finished Products
Fabian Zacharias, Hauke Schmidt, Sven Torstrick and Jan Stüve

PART 3: INSPECTION
• Integrated Automatic Inspection in Robotic Composites Cells
Scott Blake
• Fiber Angle Analysis of Carbon Fiber Preforms by 3D Eddy Current Testing
Christian Bülow, Sven Torstrick and Jan Stüve
• Thermal Imaging as a Solution for Reliable Monitoring of AFP Processes
Carsten Schmidt, Berend Denkena, Tristan Hocke and Klaas Völtzer
• Online Preventive Non-destructive Evaluation for Automated Fibre Placement
Rik Tonnaer, Sonell Shroff and Roger Groves

PART 4: DRAPING AND STAMP FORMING
• Development of a Generic Geometry to Test the Limits of Automated Draping and Stamp Forming Processes in Composite Manufacturing
Julien Van Campen
• Study of Bi-experiment Inverse Method for Thermal Characterization of Fiber-reinforced Composites
Laurent Pouliot Laforte and Louis Laberge-Lebel
• Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Stamp Forming of Thermoplastic Composite Wing Rib
Xiao Cai, Suong Van Hoa and Ramin Sedaghati

PART 5: DRY FIBER AFP
• Feature-Based Design for Manufacturing Guidelines for Dry Fibre AFP
Mattia Di Francesco, Laura Veldenz, Simon Astwood, Peter Giddings, Giuseppe Dell’anno and Kevin Potter
• Composite Laminates Made by Automated Fiber Placement of Dry Fibers and Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding
Norvan Gharabegi, Suong V. Hoa and Mehdi Hojjati
• Assessment of Steering Capability of Automated Dry Fibre Placement Through a Quantitative Methodology
L. Veldenz, M. Difrancesco, S. Astwood, P. Giddings, B. C. Kim and K. Potter

PART 6: SPECIAL LAMINATES AND STRUCTURES
• Laminates with Overlacing Made by Automated Fiber Placement
Minh Duc Hoang and Suong Van Hoa
• Development of Manufacturing Process for Thick Curved Thermoplastic Composite Tubes by Using Automated Fiber Placement
Chong Hui Song, Jeffry Fortin Simpson and Suong Van Hoa
• Automation for Wind Blade Manufacturing
James Sherwood and Matteo Polcari
• Design, Manufacturing and Testing of a Variable Stiffness Composite Cylinder for Improved Bending Induced Buckling Performance
Mohammad Rouhi, Hossein Ghayoor, Jeffrey Fortin-Simpson, Tom T. Zacchia, Suong V. Hoa and Mehdi Hojjati

PART 7: BRAIDING AND WEAVING
• Automated Braiding of Non-axisymmetric Structures
Philippe Monnot, Jonathan Lévesque and Louis Laberge Lebel
• Relating Weaving Parameters and 3D Woven Fabric Design with a Geometrical Modelling Approach
Julien Brazeau-Seguin, Jonathan Levesque and Louis Laberge Lebel

PART 8: SIMULATION AND LAY DOWN PROCESS
• Finite Element Simulation of In-situ Consolidation of Fibre Placed Thermoplastic Laminate for Prediction of Residual Stresses and Laminate Quality
Gautam Jeyakodi and Sonell Shroff
• Systematic Down Selection Approach to Automated Composites Lay-down Processes
Angelo Sportelli, Marco Barile, Gianni Iagulli, Marco Raffone and Leonardo Lecce

PART 9: TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS
• Trends and Innovations of Automated Fiber Placement
Jihua Chen, Marc Palardy-Sim, Marc-André Octeau and Ali Yousefpour

Author Index