Development of a correction method for manufacturing induced defects in composite structures for the AFP (Automated-Fiber-Placement) process on the basis of surrogate models

Abstract

Using the Automated-Fiber-Placement (AFP) a fast deposition of large amounts of com-posite material, so-called tows, is possible. Just as in the manual manufacturing of com-posite structures manufacturing deviations occur within the composite part. Commonly, these defects are corrected manually. The aim is to enable the direct and automatic cor-rection of manufacturing deviations, if possible, already during the fiber placement pro-cess. The capability of surrogate models to fast model and analyse various manufacturing de-viations supports the assessment of the structure-mechanical effect of relevant manufac-turing defects. As a consequence the assessment of occurring manufacturing deviations as wells as the determination of corrective actions in structural critical zones is enabled within the manufacturing process. A suitable optimization method for correcting manufacturing induced deviations in com-posite structures is developed and verified. In this context the focus is on the optimization of aerospace structures.