Upscaling of in-situ Automated Fiber Placement with LM-PAEK - From Panel to Fuselage

Abstract

The application of thermoplastic CFRPs in large aerospace components enables a modern and differential approach to Aircraft manufacturing. Most importantly the opportunity of dust-free joining of components by means of thermoplastic welding technologies allow subassemblies to be pre-equipped with system and cabin elements that are then subsequently joined. The Institute for Structures and Design of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been working on in-situ Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) with different thermoplastic matrix materials with the goal to develop a suitable single stage manufacturing process for thermoplastic CFRPs. Different aspects of the scale-up were investigated including the overall ply design, manufacturability of complex areas of a fuselage, first ply adhesion, and the overall laminate quality with regard to weldability. The manufacturing of a test shell with 4 m diameter is presented in this work. It identified key areas of the process that require further refinement in order to assure manufacturability and weldability of AFP-produced parts. Using the results, a holistic approach to the manufacturing process is proposed for the direct manufacturing of large-scale components made with the in-situ AFP Process.