Corrugated composites: production-integrated quality assurance in carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic sine wave beam production

Abstract

Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics offer the possibility for short lead times and dustless assembly in aerospace applications. However, their great potential for efficient processing to date is not entirely exploited. At the Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) in Augsburg smart automation of thermoplastic composite production is investigated. To assess the overall process chain a sine wave beam designed as crash-absorber serves as demonstrator. The production process from as-delivered material to final assembly is presented. In addition to non-destructive testing at the end of the value adding process chain, production-integration quality assurance, and process characterization serve to evaluate each process step. In this context, water-coupled ultrasonic testing as an established method in aerospace production is used to assess the degree of consolidation after vacuum consolidation and press-forming. Thus, quality issues and crucial process parameters can be identified and optimized to improve robustness.

Keywords

• Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics
• Thermoplastic composites
• Automation
• Production technology
• Vacuum consolidation
• Thermoforming
• Implant resistance welding
• Production-integrated quality assurance