CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/576646
66 CompositesWorld OCTOBER 2015 Convention Highlights Dr. Felix Kruse, head of the Department of Composite Process Technology at the Insti- tute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR) at Stade, explained how he has developed a machine that lays dry tows in a wide band through a laying head. Judging from the slides shown, the positioning of the tows was so precise that the band of material deposited looked more like a wide tape of UD prepreg. It was reported that the fbers were dry and had no binder. Te process, Automated Direct Fiber Placement, was developed to enable a new design for wind turbine blades. Belgium's keynoter, Julie Leroy, introduced the two Belgium organizations that will be involved with CFK. First is AGORIA (Brussels), for which she is business group leader. AGORIA brings together members from the technology sector, most of whom are involved www.renegadematerials.com Springboro, Ohio - 937-350-5274 Jet Engines and Nacelles Are Extreme Environments Renegade Materials are Formulated for Long Term Exposure to Extreme Service Conditions Polyimides (Service Up to 700ºF) Bismaleimides (Service Up to 400ºF) Toughened Epoxy (Service Up to 350ºF) Prepregs – Resins – Adhesives with composites. Second is Brussels- based sirris, a collective that connects clients with testing, consulting and tech- nology marketing expertise. Te concepts of Industry 4.0, she noted, have been taken up by Belgian industry, under the banner, "Made Diferent." Dr. Eli Voet introduced work on composite structures with sensors embedded in or on the laminate. His company, Com&Sens; (Zwijnaarde, Belgium), of which he is a managing associate, applies Fiber Bragg Gratings in a variety of applications, such as marine turbines. Beyond the obvious opera- tional uses, measuring in-service strains on structures, examples were given of additional use in monitoring production processes, such as flament winding and thermoplastic tape laying. Day two Te second day began a keynote from Hermann Rosen, founder of the Rosen Group (Karlsruhe, Germany), about the use of an integrated system to run a truly global company. Although the company at issue was in the service side of the oil industry, it was a good vision of where the composite industry needs to aim. Marcus Kleinberg, from the DLR portal at Braunschweig, showed a new approach to composite molding process control. Applicable equally to open and closed mold processes, his premise was based on the fact that raw materials and produc- tion processes have tolerances that are in the production specifcation. Today, the typical way of solving this problem is defning a conservative, and invariable, production corridor. His proposal is to use sensors, typically of the ultrasonic type, to monitor the ongoing processes and to adjust production parameters during the process — or at least correct the param- eter settings for the next shot. He believes this will improve repeatability and perhaps reduce production cycle times and scrap rates. Dr. Christian Weimer, head of opera- tions at Airbus Group Innovations (Stade), reported on a program to auto- mate the inspection of laminates laid by AFP machines in parallel with the