FOR AUTO RTM

Fiber Patch Placement NEWS
RECREATION
Fiber Patch Placement process boosts
properties and cuts cycle time
The patented Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) technology, originally developed
by Airbus Group (previously EADS Innovation Works, Ottobrunn,
Germany; see endnote), has been significantly advanced by startup
company Cevotec (Garching bei München, Germany). A spinoff from
Technische Universität München (Munich, Germany), Cevotec has
licensed the FPP technology and worked with Airbus and other partners
to advance the automated robots, software and process chain which
takes small (e.g., 15-40-mm wide by 40-120-mm long by
0.08-0.16-mm thick) unidirectional carbon fiber (CF)
patches and precisely places them along load paths
to create highly optimized preforms with 150%
increased stiffness and up to 50% reduced
scrap. The material used includes HT250,
HTS45 and IMS65 carbon fiber from
Toho Tenax Co. Ltd. (Tokyo,
Japan) and T300 and
T700 fibers from Toray
(Tokyo), which Cevotec
transforms into spreadtow
tapes from 15-40
Source | Cevotec
mm wide and 80-160 g/
m 2 areal weight with Spunfab thermoplastic monofilament web applied
as binder. The preforms are subsequently molded using resin transfer
molding (RTM) and other impregnation processes.
Cevotec has worked with Airbus and partners to speed up the process
and improve its stability and flexibility in building very complex composite
structures. For example, working with a leading medical device OEM,
Cevotec is developing a one-piece CF orthosis preform that will be
manufactured with FPP in 20 minutes. Currently, the part requires 45
separate pieces of prepreg and 1.5 hours to lay up. Founder Thorsten
Groene concedes that offshore labor is still cheaper, however, “bringing
the manufacturing control back in-house and drastically improving
quality as well as aesthetics helps tip the balance in our favor, with many
companies now interested.” Cevotec also has developed a CF snowboard
reinforcement that achieves separately optimized bending and torsion as
well as precise longitudinal loads with a zero material scrap during manufacturing.
“The layer of continuous fibers they are currently using does
not provide the properties needed exactly and adds weight.” FPP reduces
that weight by two-thirds and simplifies the layup and fabrication process
while increasing the value of the product and the price the manufacturer
can command.
FPP increases mechanical performance by optimizing fiber orientation
to the part’s load paths, saves material scrap and process time by net
shape 3D preforming and guarantees the highest part quality via online
camera control of digital design and placement files.
Cevotec was founded in February 2015 by Yannick Blössl, Thorsten
Groene, Neven Majic and Felix Michl. The company exhibited at JEC
Europe 2015 (March 10-12, Paris, France) and at Hannover Messe (April
13-17, Hannover, Germany). In September, you can also visit them at
Composite Europe 2015 (Sept. 22-24, Stuttgart, Germany).
See a video of the process and read more online |
short.compositesworld.com/CWT-FPP
Read more about the FPP process’ beginnings in “Airbus A350 Update:
BRaF & FPP” | short.compositesworld.com/M4dqWkm6
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CompositesWorld.com
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