JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #132 - January/February 2020 - 20

MANUFACTURlNG digitalisation

Fig. 2: Digital framework of Airborne

Portal functionality
Figures 1 shows the functionality of
the portal. The user can either define
a straight, rectangular laminate, or upload a dxf file to define a certain shape.
After selecting the material, the user
can define the fibre angles per layer and
build up the laminate.
The strength, stiffness and price are
shown on the right. Users that do
not possess in-depth knowledge of
composites can use the feedback on
strength and stiffness to help correctly
design the laminate and compare the
product to metal or plastic alternatives.
A separate tab shows the path planning
of the ALC system, visualising how
production time is calculated and what
the scrap at the edges will be. This can
help the user define a better shape, for
example a better fit with the courses the
tape laying head is making.
Digital manufacturing
framework for composite parts
The portal ties into the larger digital
manufacturing framework that Airborne

20

is developing (shown in Figure 2). A
production system converts incoming
material into the composite product.
Ideally, this material comes with a full
digital passport detailing the variations
in the materials such as local defects,
thickness variations, etc.

increasing amount is imagery such as
visual inspection, ultrasonic inspection
or thermography. In order to understand the influence of the defects on the
process, these images should be stored
properly and need to be connected to
the process data.

Creating data insights
The first building block is able to extract
data from the production system, store
it in a data warehouse and create data
insights. This may sound trivial, but doing so in a sensible way and recognising
which data is relevant requires in-depth
know-how of the composite process.
Typically, a lot of data is generated in
composite manufacturing because of
the layered structure of these materials.
Every layer needs to be measured for
process settings and defects. Because
composites are fragile, defect detection
and control are vital.

Adaptive processing
The second building block is adaptive
processing, where process settings
are constantly adapted to ensure the
right output quality at the highest
production speed and lowest material
scrap. This method differs from the
current and conventional way in which
composite processes are controlled.
The conventional way of working is
to create a fixed process recipe that is
subsequently qualified.

Therefore, a large amount of quality
control data is involved. Much of this
data consists of measurements, but an

	 jec composites magazine / N°132 January - February 2020

The process should be robust enough to
cope with all possible variations. This
leads to slow and conservative processes and can result in a high scrap rate of
products that do not meet the required
quality. In adaptive process control,
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #132 - January/February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #132 - January/February 2020
