Combining Laser and Textile Technology for Just-in-Time Production of Composites

The demand for composite components is rapidly increasing by a simultaneous demand for increasing component performance. Compared to established construction materials, production technologies in the composite field often have a lower technological maturity. Current production technologies for fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) are using 3D multi-layer textile preforms. The preform production is often characterized by high manual workload. High level of automation, including automated quality assurance, is often cost-effective only at high volumes. In the highly innovative EU and OP.EFRE funded “CarboLase”-project ITA RWTH Aachen University and Fraunhofer ILT are developing in corporation with industry partners the future fully automated preforming process chain. Sensors as well as flexible software and hardware interfaces are integrated in the process chain, enabling the transfer of product and process data along the process chain. One core innovation is the combination of productive 2D CNC cutting, high-precision laser material processing of the textile preforms by ultra-short pulsed laser radiation and a fully automated application of metallic fasteners into the preforms. The technologies are integrated in a single robot cell