CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/620463
35 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W Production viability and development Regardless of the material system or cycle time, getting automated composites manufacturing systems into full-scale production requires signifcant development. "One automotive OEM I've spoken with is frustrated," says Rypkema, "because it seems the composites industry wants the OEM to bear the brunt of the cost to develop tooling, materials and process." He notes that PEI has had interest from many automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs, all looking for tech- nology that is viable in a production envi- ronment and sufciently low in cost. "Te OEMs need the advantages of composites, but they're not going to fund Tier 1 science projects," he points out. Tis massive devel- opment doesn't ft into their cost model for the current vehicles in pre-production. "We cannot just deliver equipment and say, 'Here it is,' but not know how to make a part," explains Graf. "We need to fully under- stand the process and material requirements," he adds. Along these lines, the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT, Pfnztal, Germany) and Diefenbacher have had a cooperation agreement for 15 years. "We heavily engage in process develop- ment and collaborate intensely with Fraunhofer to strengthen our approach. Tey perform the research," Graf explains, including, "what materials to use and how to set the process parameters to make a good part." Simply put, suppliers of integrated systems for auto applica- tions must learn how to make parts. "In the automotive world this is called design for manufacture," contends Dan Allman, director product strategy and development at Fives Group (Fives Cincin- nati, Hebron, KY, US). He points out that some parts previously made with SMC cannot be made with continuous fber without some development work. "Continuous fber materials and conver- sion processes require a diferent design approach," Allman says. "So we are going through this process now, looking at various parts that OEMs and suppliers want to convert to contin- uous fber and seeing how they must be re-engineered." According to chief technology ofcer Yannick Leprêtre, Fives Group is assembling a composites technology and demonstration center at Fives Cincin- nati in Hebron that will reportedly enable process development and demonstrations for the automotive, aerospace and wind industries. "Te center will feature our automated tape and fber placement capabilities, as well as cutting and machining and robotic-based conversion processes," says Allman. "Tere are not many places the industry can go to do full-scale prototyping work for process development." Engel has its own R&D; facility, the Technology Center for Light- weight Composites in St. Valentin, Austria, which opened in 2012. Turnkey Composites Manufacturing "We cannot just deliver equip- ment and say 'Here it is,' but not know how to make a part." – Matthias Graf