Robotic based thermoplastic fibre placement process

Carbon fibre reinforced composites offer excellent specific stiffness and strength and are therefore interesting for rotating machinery applications. The main disadvantage of high performance composites is the manufacturing process which is labor intensive and thus slow and expensive. The thermoplastic fibre placement process overcomes these difficulties due to its high degree of automation. During the process, an impregnated thermoplastic tape is heated up and then consolidated in-situ under pressure. This process has been implemented on a 6-axis robot in our laboratory and on a 3-axis robotic workcell at the ABB motor factory in Switzerland. This workcell is used to wind overhang bandages for motors