The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials in Germany will participate in the Berlin Air Show in 2018 and will present to the industry its research results on the production of high-efficiency carbon fiber composite materials.
Modern passenger aircraft such as the Airbus A350XWB employ carbon fiber reinforced composites in large quantities. About 53% of the components of its wings, tail fins, and most of the fuselage are made of composite materials. However, the production of large carbon fiber composite materials is still very time-consuming. The cost remains high. To this end, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials and its industrial partners are dedicated to developing more efficient production and processing solutions, such as parallel assembly robots for machining large structures. , Mobile robots for contour milling, including plasma coated release liners for the production of large carbon fiber composite structural parts without release agents.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials has also made progress in damage detection technology for composite materials. Ultrasound and thermal imaging technology can quickly and efficiently find the damaged parts, and X-ray tomography in scientific research is also A further development has been made. Although this method is currently very time-consuming, it is difficult to integrate into the manufacturing process, but it provides very accurate information.
In addition, Prof. Bernd Meyer, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials, revealed that new composite materials are under development, in particular thermoplastic composites, in which glass or carbon fiber materials are embedded in thermoplastics during production. In the matrix, the entire process does not require complicated and expensive equipment, resulting in new materials that are easier to process than conventional composites. For example, glass fiber reinforced polyamides have been used as reinforcement components in the automotive industry.
