The Voith Group's innovative carbon fiber composite automotive parts production line has raised the level of mass production to a higher level.
The production line was designed specifically for the production of Audi A8's carbon fiber composite rear wall panels using direct fiber placement technology. One of the core components of the production line is Voith's proprietary VRA fiber placement machine.
In order to meet stringent requirements for high quality and to shorten the production cycle as much as possible, the preforming process of the components must be fast, flexible, free from creases and wrinkles. For this purpose, Voith developed a highly efficient forming simulation. The technology allows the segmented stamping process to be performed exactly after the lay-up.
After preforming, Voith further uses the HP-RTM process to immerse the matrix resin in the fibrous material (and cure it). Next, it punches, cleans and fully automates the joining of other metal parts. Between the steps To undertake, flow to the robot to complete.
'This new digital 4.0 production line sets a new reference standard for the mass production of carbon fiber composite automotive parts,' said Dr. Lars Herbeck, general manager of Voith Composites. 'The smart factory designed according to this, almost According to customer requirements, it can automatically produce CFRP parts of any shape and size.
The Audi A8 carbon fiber composite back wall panel produced by this production line is the result of the cooperation between Audi, Voith Group, Dow Automotive, Zoltek, and the production line project was jointly developed by Audi and Voith in 2011. Project initiated.