Digital Transformation of Composites
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GET THE LATEST COVID-19 MANUFACTURING STORIES AT CompositesWorld.com/covid-19 Composites 4.0: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF COMPOSITES JULY 2020 Automated aerospace RTM line for next-gen spoilers / 16 Narrow UD tapes bridge the ATL-AFP gap / 26 Composites masterwork: 2020 Corvette, Part 1 / 44 A property of Gardner Business Media VOL 6 No. 7 BETTER WITH BRAID BETTER PARTS. LOWER COSTS. Quasi-Isotropic Fabric – Balanced in a Single Ply QISO® has the same properties in every direction enabling simple and efficient processing, reduction in waste, and superior performance. Off The Roll +/-45° Fabric Bimax® is a biaxial +/-45° fabric offering significant material savings and reduced manufacture time. Highly Efficient Unidirectional Fabric ZERO® is an affordable, highly efficient unidirectional fabric offered in a variety of areal weights. weights www.braider.com 513·688·3200 [email protected] 4595 East Tech Dr. Cincinnati, Ohio 45245 TABLE OF CONTENTS JULY 2020 / Vol: 6 No–: 7 COLUMNS FEATURES 4 From the Editor 16 Inside Manufacturing: 6 Past, Present & Future High-rated, automated Tom Foltz, director of business develop- aerospace RTM line delivers ment at Speciality Materials, refl ects on the next-gen spoilers history of high-performance boron fi ber At Spirit Aerosystem's Prestwick facility, CW and its future developments. editor-in-chief, Je Sloan, provides a glimpse at 16 the future of aerocomposites manufacturing in a 8 Perspectives & Provocations resin transfer molding line for A320 spoilers. Columnist Dale Brosius refl ects on recent By Je Sloan composites industry trends and how they are impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 26 Work in Progress: 10 Design & Testing Narrow UD tapes bridge Columnist Dan Adams explains how sandwich composites fl exure tests are the ATL-AFP gap used to assess facesheet or core failures Automated tape laying and automated fi ber for three-point and four-points fl exural placement are similar, but not the same. Can loading confi gurations. narrow tapes provide a middle ground with advantages of both processes? 12 Gardner Business Index By Je Sloan 26 30 Composites 4.0: Digital transformation, adaptive » DEPARTMENTS production, new paradigms An evolving landscape of automation, sensors 14 Trends and AI software is not an end, but a means to 38 Applications achieve the cost, quality, e ciency and agility required for future manufacturing. 40 New Products By Ginger Gardiner 42 Marketplace 42 Ad Index 43 Showcase 30 » ON THE COVER FOCUS ON DEDESIGNSG The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Composites-intensive developed a fl exible, AI-driven automation 44 platform for its work cell to build families masterwork: 2020 of CFRP aerostructures like rear pressure Corvette, Part 1 bulkheads and fuselage panels using col- The eighth-generation Chevrolet CorvCorvettee laborative robots. The robots are not taught, from General Motors Co. sports more but instead defi ne their own collision-free composites and features parts producproducede pathways. Pictured are DLR Augsburg using unique materials and processes. cooperation robots. See p. 30. By Peggy Malnati Source / DLR Institute of Structures and Designs CompositesWorld (ISSN 2376-5232) is published Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. accurate. In applying recommendations, however, you should exercise care and normal MEMBERSHIPS: monthly and copyright © 2020 by Gardner Business If undeliverable, send Form 3579. precautions to prevent personal injury and damage to facilities or products. In no case Media Inc. 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244- CANADA POST: Canada Returns to be can the authors or the publisher accept responsibility for personal injury or damages 3029. Telephone: (513) 527-8800. 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CompositesWorld.com 1 @CompositesWrld PUBLISHER Ryan Delahanty [email protected] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF J e S l o a n je @compositesworld.com SENIOR EDITOR Ginger Gardiner Beta TX670 DISCO Prepreg [email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITOR Hannah Mason [email protected] Beta TX670 DISCO is a high performance ASSISTANT EDITOR Grace Nehls [email protected] tooling prepreg that features Benzoxazine DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Scott Stephenson resin, a balanced triaxial fabric and AND EVENTS [email protected] discontinuous fibers. ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER Becky Taggert [email protected] GRAPHIC DESIGNER Susan Kraus BENEFITS [email protected] MARKETING MANAGER Chris Saulnier • Discontinuous fibers improve conformability [email protected] and reduce lay-up effort. CW CONTRIBUTING WRITERS • Triaxial, quasi-isotropic weave reduces Dale Brosius [email protected] waste and speeds up lay-up process. Michael LeGault [email protected] Peggy Malnati [email protected] • Outstanding toughness, high glass Karen Mason [email protected] transition Tg, low moisture absorption, Amanda Jacob [email protected] and stability at high temperatures significantly lengthens tool life. CW SALES GROUP MIDWESTERN US & INTERNATIONAL Dale Jackman / REGIONAL MANAGER • Low shrinkage reduces residual stresses [email protected] providing great surface quality, dimensional EASTERN US SALES OFFICE Barbara Businger / REGIONAL MANAGER stability and excellent machinability. [email protected] • Exceptionally long, 6-month out-life allows MOUNTAIN, WEST Michael Schwartz / REGIONAL MANAGER [email protected] for schedule flexibility on the shop floor. EUROPEAN SALES OFFICE Simone Mas / EUROPEAN SALES MANAGER [email protected] COMPOSITESWORLD IS A PROPERTY OF HEADQUARTERS 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029 Phone 513-527-8800 Fax 513-527-8801 gardnerweb.com [email protected] CHAIRMAN Richard G. Kline PRESIDENT Richard G. Kline, Jr. • Balanced triaxial fabric -60°/0°/60° CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Melissa Kline Skavlem CHIEF DATA OFFICER Steve Kline, Jr. • Discontinuous fibers. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Ernest Brubaker The ‘snowflake’ cut pattern limits CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Phil Louis the tow length to <4.5 inches DIRECTOR OF CUSTOM CONTENT Tom Beard maximum ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Bill Caldwell DIRECTOR OF CONTENT AND WEB Kate Hand DIRECTOR OF EVENTS Allison Miller DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT Dave Necessary MARKETING AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR Je Norgord DIRECTOR OF MARKET RESEARCH Jan Schafer AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Julie Ball INTERNATIONAL INC. EUROPE Sarl ADVAANCEDNCED MATTERIERIALS LTTDD ASIA LTD GARDNER BUSINESS MEDIA ALSO PUBLISHES ModernMachineShop MoldmakingTechnology PlasticsTechnology AutomotiveDesign&Production ProductionMachining ProductsFinishing PFMexico AdditiveManufacturing 2 JULY 2020 CompositesWorld FROM THE EDITOR » In , when the rst Terminator movie came out — featuring and threats of algorithm-driven AI. Conveniently and ironically, the Arnold Schwarzenegger as the time-traveling, man/machine survey asked respondents to consider a timeline extending to , assassin — I was a -year-old junior in high school and clearly in just past the Terminator moment. AI concerns identi ed by the the movie’s target demographic. Sure enough, I eagerly stood in survey do not mention a man vs. machine war, but they do include a long line with several friends at the movie theater the night the loss of human agency, data abuse, job loss, cognition erosion and movie premiered. And loved it. mayhem (cybercrime, weaponized drones). If you have not seen Terminator, a quick synopsis: In , In composites manufacturing, it’s mostly upsides. e growth of computer and machine technology has evolved to outpace algorithm-driven AI systems has birthed Industry . hardware and and outsmart humans. e software, designed to help fabricators manage orders, materials, What, then, do we machines build weapons to processes and delivery. It also provides fabricators unprecedented defeat humans and a human- amounts of data about machine operations, process e ciency, make of the threat of vs.-machines civil war breaks product quality, design compliance and much more. machine learning? out. e humans are, predict- is thread — applied machine learning — runs through ably, losing, but their leader, John three stories in this issue of CW. e rst, by senior editor Ginger Connor, is deemed so threatening Gardiner, on p. , focuses exclusively on the technologies being that the machines decide it would be best if John did not exist at developed for what we call Composites .. As Ginger says, “An all. So, the machines fabricate a human-looking android, a “termi- evolving landscape of automation, sensors and AI software is not an nator” (Schwarzenegger), to time-travel back to to assas- end, but a means to achieve the cost, quality, e ciency and agility sinate John’s mother, Sarah, before she can give birth to John. required for future manufacturing.” After that, things