Realtime feedback on typical defects during fiber placement
Manufacturing lightweight components for the aircraft industry with automated fiber placement (AFP) usually requires the placement of many layers of fiber material and takes long hours. For such large parts the manual inspection of each layer is very demanding, but currently necessary to avoid that defects propagate to the final part.
Solution
The L-SCAN sensor technology is designed to meet the specific requirements of AFP processes in the aircraft industry and the manufacturing of pressure vessels. It enables the automated inline inspection of the entire surface of all AFP layers.
Due to an optical design which scatters the laser light, the sensor can cope with the complex reflective properties of carbon fibers. While scanning the surface the sensor provides depth images of the edges of the individual carbon fiber tows.
When integrated with the laying head, the L-SCAN system is able to monitor the tow position and orientation during the placement process. Gaps between tows are checked, typical defects such as overlaps, linting and twisted tows are detected robustly. False alarms are virtually eliminated and defects are reported in real time.
Sensor Specifications
- Sensor size: 320 x 150 x 140mm
- Field of view: 100 x 30mm
- 2D Resolution: 50µm
- Depth resolution: 100µm
- Evaluation time (typical): 360 profiles/sec. (at 100 x 30mm field of view)
Advantages
- Inline quality control for AFP process
- Compact and robust design
- Application-specific modifications are possible
- Robust technology based on long time experience with inspection of fiber composite parts and material
Wide range of materials
- Structural parts
- Uni directional (UD) fiber materials
- Scan width up to 32 tows
Application areas
- Aerospace
- Pressure vessels
- Sports equipment, boat building
Your contact
Dr. Christoph Breitschopf
CEO
+43 72 52 885 0
christoph.breitschopf@nullprofactor.at
Product brochure:
