Robotic Applications in Composite Fiber Layup and processing

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Robotic Applications in Composite Fiber Lay-up
and processing

• Karl Taylor
• 4/25/2007

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Composite fiber manufacture can be troublesome
for several reasons

• Solvents used in thermoplastic and thermo-set
  resins for composite fiber lay-ups are often
  teratogenic (causing birth defects),
  carcinogenic, and may cause hormonal problems
• Fiber material (often referred to as tow) can
  present moderate handling hazards to skin and
  eyes
• Fiber material can easily be damaged or become
  fouled in its orientation during lay-up due to
  handling error

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Composite Fiber additionally requires specialized
handling

• Pre-impregnated fiber/resin cloth (pre-preg
  material) must be carefully monitored for
  duration of time at room temperature, as material
  properties degrade with time out of freezer due
  to warm curing
• In cases where resin is applied to fiber
  in-process, resin has limited life span due to
  same reasons as above

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Manufacturing associated costs contribute from
40 to over 60 of total costs for producing
fiber composite products.
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Industrial Robotic technology could reduce this
cost by over half through

• Reduced required facility floor space for lay-up
  processing
• Improved control of material handling
• Reduced labor requirements/costs
• Faster Process time
• Reduced scrap due to human processing error

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Additionally, Robotics promises these additional
benefits

• Reduced exposure of human labor element to toxic
  solvents, and handling hazards or fiber tow
  material used in fiber composite manufacture
• Reduced cost for more sophisticated/higher
  performance composites

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Robotic application benefits (cont.)

• Improved capacity to fabricate much larger single
  piece composite lay-ups
• Examples
• -Single piece fiber composite aircraft fuselage
  lay- ups
• -Moderate sized marine hull single piece
  composite lay-up
• Processing any large single piece lay-up that was
  previously too costly, difficult or impossible to
  manufacture by hand

Right CAD representation of automated composite
assembly/lay-up using a combination six-axis
arm/3-axis gantry system (source
http//www.compositemfg.com/)
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Robotics Applications (cont.)
Above, left Proprietary Precision Feed
Endeffector (PFE), provides pressure mandrels,
orientation, excess resin recycling, and shearing
capabilities Above, right PFE applying pre-preg
material to a concave mold Right Detail of
optional refrigerator capabilities for preserving
composite material for extended duration
lay-ups Source Composite Systems, Inc.
(http//www.compositemfg.com)
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Robotics Applications (cont.)
Above, left A three-axis gantry system with a
mounted Kuka six-axis arm for performing large
single part composite assembly Above, right
Detail of six-axis arm mounted on telescoping
vertical axis, may be used in conjunction with a
PFE TCF Source Composite Systems, Inc.
(http//www.compositemfg.com)
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Robotics Applications (cont.)
Above, left tandem arms working in parallel on a
single gantry system to assemble mirrored parts
(i.e. a pair of composite wings) Above, right
single gantry system allowing lay-up within the
cylinder, as would occur for ID assmbly of a
fuselage Right Similar to above, with OD
single-piece assembly Source Composite Systems,
Inc. (http//www.compositemfg.com)
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Robotics Applications Summary

• Multi-axis gantry system conveyors (for
  especially large parts) enable manufacture of
  parts previously impossible, or infeasible
• Specialized TCF modules that handle fiber
  orientation, mandrel application force, recycling
  excess resin, and temperature control of
  composite material can do the work of dozens of
  laborers more efficiently than traditional
  methods
• Robotics greatest advantage over traditional
  automation of composite lay-up is in flexibility
  of configuration and adaptability to several
  assembly operations

(Source http//www.compositemfg.com/PFE20Technol
ogy.htm)