Advanced Fibre Placement

Chris Gear
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Confidential

Market & Customers

Market

Business Mix Sector Customer Base

Product Strategy
Current Product Portfolio

Flying Surfaces

Fuselage Sections

Nacelle & Pylon

Engine Structures

Engine Rotatives

Transparencies & Coatings

Protection Systems

Technology Targeted Innovation

Future Product Differentiation

Future Wing Technologies

Engine Structures

Engine Rotatives

Transparencies & Coatings

Ice Protection Systems

Advanced Fuselage

Nacelle & Pylon

Next Generation Composite Processes

Advanced Metallic Processes

Advanced Process Development

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Advance Fuselages & Flying Surfaces

Current Products

BACKGROUND
Automated fibre placement (AFP) started as a development project in 1982 between Boeing and Cincinnati Machine Tools
After initial development Cincinnati filed a patent in1989

Hand Lay Up
Manual processing dominated composite manufacture
Reliant on optimisation of material through operator or ply cutting machines High waste, but able to produce complex shapes Constrained by material life and operator skill level Low non recurring cost

Filament Winding
First step to automation for the deposition of tows Dry fibre has to pass through resin before deposition on mandrel
Used in production of composite parts such as fishing rods, yacht masts and missile bodies Low non recurring cost

Automatic Tape Laying

One of the first steps in automation led to the introduction of automated tape laying (ATL) for large, flat panels
Deposition rates around 10kg/ hr Material widths of 300 or 600mm

25%-40% material waste

Produces large flat or minimal shaped panels Mid non recurring cost

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ATL vs AFP Waste

Quasi Isotropic lay ups require material to be laid in the 0, 45, 90 and 135 degree directions. As the majority of fibre orientation is in the 45 and 135 degree direction excess material is generated in the triangle that over hangs the edge of part

Material Waste

Material Waste

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Advanced Fibre Placement (AFP)

7 degrees of freedom
12-32 tows of material

Choice of 3.125, 6.25 or 12.5mm wide material Deposition rates up to 10kg/ hr for large, complex shapes High non recurring costs for machine

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Advanced Fibre Placement (contd)

First production machine was delivered in 1990 by Cincinatti, with deliveries made to support the development of the GE90 fanblade. Subsequent machines were delivered for the V-22 Osprey and F-22 Raptor manufacture

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Advanced Fibre Placement (contd)

First European research project that established fuselage barrel manufactures viability was FUBA-COMP, running between 20012006
Fibre placed fuselages in production today include the Hawker Beechcraft

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Fuselage Sections
First large scale civil application of AFP was for panels of Section 19 for the A380 manufactured by Airbus at its Illescas facility near Madrid
Boeings 787 was the first large commercial use of single piece fuselage barrel sections with integrated stiffeners Typical fuselage single piece Invar tool weight 80T

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AFP the step change

First generation machines utilised on low volume programmes or high value complex parts
Low deposition rates of around 1kg/ hr on complex shapes The change

Demand for greater deposition rates driven by 787 and A350 XWB needs Market opens up to new entrants
Innovation in head designs mean reduced number of movements and the ability to lay material faster

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A350 XWB Fixed Trailing Edge and Assembly Design

Contract awarded in 2008 with Airbus Inner, mid and outer rear carbon spars and fixed trailing (FTE) assembly package Total length of three spars 27m with a surface accuracy of +/-0.3mm Required AFP machines for spar lay-up and a robotic assembly area for the fixing of spars to ribs

Robotic large scale assembly operation undertaken by GKN Aerospace (leveraging skills from the GKN Aerospace Filton acquisition)

Outer Spar Mid Spar Inner Spar

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Main Wing Spar Manufacture

Machine footprint: 8m x 16m
Working envelope: 13m x 2m x 2m

Band width: 101.6mm (4)

Tows: 16 off 6.35mm (1/4) tows Max. tool weight 3t

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Engine Fan Case

Machine Footprint: 12 x 6m^2
Fan cases up to of 3.5m

Twin robot configuration, 23 axes in total

Each robot laying-up 75mm wide prepreg tape Lay-up rate target: >10kg/hr

Integrated flange forming mechanism and self heating tool for OoA cure Latest light weight ATL head development for robot handling Cut on the fly capability and advanced paper tensioning system

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But It Is Not Just The AFP Machine!

AFP is not just about a machine, it is also about a holistic approach to a design and manufacturing solution
Compatability between design and manufacturing systems, ie Catia V5. Can you simulate the manufacturing cycle? What is the right programming language for your business? Tooling solutions can be optimised for shape where ATLs have been used to produce blanks for forming, offering lower total cost and reduced manufacturing lead times

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Where next?
Lightweight robotic systems
Dry fabric

Out of autoclave solutions

Increased agility to produce even more complex shapes Analytical tools to support complex designs

Consolidation and reduction in parts required to produce assemblies

Multiple heads, multiple tools

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