CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/576646
97 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W autoclave curing (from Italmatic, Cassina de Pecchi, Italy) and automated fber placement (AFP, Fig. 3, p. 95). Te latter features a Fanuc (Minamitsuru-gun, Japan) robot, a Fokker-developed end- efector that features 35,000-Hz ultrasonic heating capability, and CGTech (Irvine, CA, US) control software. It's here in the R&D; lab that Fokker has worked with Airbus and other partners on the Europe-based Termoplastic Aford- able Primary Aircraft Structure (TAPAS I and TAPAS II) projects (see "Learn More") to evaluate the performance of thermoplastic composites in aero- structures. Fokker also is involved with the European Clean Sky Joint Tech- nology Initiative, part of which is comparing autoclave energy use between thermoset and thermoplastic materials. At the time of CW's visit, a large fuselage panel demonstrator was being readied for display at a composites trade show. Big assembly for the A380 Fabrication, however, is only half of the Fokker Aerostructures story, for the company invests just as heavily in assembly, which, when it came to thermoplastics, opened the door to welding methods. And it's in development of thermoplastic welding tech- nologies that Fokker has truly excelled. Fokker's contract to manu- facture the wing leading edges on the massive Airbus A380 from Fokker Aerostructures Fig. 7 Section-by-section assembly An A380 wing leading edge skin and its ribs, spar and stifeners, mounted in an assembly jig, is shown here during resistance welding. Each jig holds one 3.5m section of wingskin. Each wing leading edge comprises eight 3.5m sections, for a total length of 26m. Fig. 8 Robotically automated welding All welding of the A380 wing leading edge is done with robotic equipment, which measures the distance traveled along the skin to recognize which rib it's welding. Fig. 9 Welding's future: Toward "lights out" technology For the Dassault Falcon 5X elevator, Fokker employs next-generation induction welding technology that, unlike resistance welding, allows direct thermoplastic-to- thermoplastic bonding and obviates the need for a metal mesh strip. This assembly jig holds all of the spars and ribs for the elevator; during the night shift, robotically guided induction coils are inserted into the jig to bond the parts together. Fabrication is only half the Fokker story, for the company invests just as heavily in assembly ....