Fraunhofer Institute in Germany demonstrates new aircraft manufacturing technology

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials will participate in the 2018 Berlin Air Show to showcase its research achievements in high-efficiency carbon fiber composite production processes in recent years.

Modern passenger aircraft such as the Airbus A350XWB use a large number of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials, and its wings, tails and most of the fuselage, about 53% of the components are made of composite materials. However, the production of large carbon fiber composite parts is still very time consuming and costly. To this end, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials and its industry partners are dedicated to developing more efficient production and machining solutions, such as parallel assembly robots for machining large structural parts for contour milling. The mobile robot also includes a plasma-coated release film for producing a large-sized structural member of a carbon fiber composite without a release agent.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Applied Materials has also made progress in the detection of composite damage detection. Ultrasound and thermal imaging technologies can quickly and efficiently find the damage site, and X-ray tomography in scientific research. Further developments have been made, although the method is currently very time consuming and therefore 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, is conducting research on new composite materials, especially thermoplastic composites, which incorporate glass or carbon fiber materials into thermoplastics during production. In the matrix, the entire process does not require complex 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 reinforcing components in the automotive industry.