Extrusion 8-2017

100% In-Line Inspection of Composite

Materials ...

... for the highest process reliability and

resource efficiency

Composite materials are playing an increasingly important role

in numerous industries, and they are often used in safety-rele-

vant areas such as aviation, the automotive industry, and in the

construction of wind power plants. Thus the inspection of fiber-

reinforced plastics is of crucial importance for manufacturers.

State-of-the-art tools now enable a completely new level of

Increasing competitive pressure to

ever higher quality standards means

that the requirements are becoming ever

greater for manufacturers of fiber-rein-

forced plastics and other composite ma-

terials, especially given that most of the

products are used in applications with

very high safety standards. End custo-

mers, such as in the aviation and auto-

motive industries, require their suppliers

to have all materials certified, which is

why the quality produced must be fully

recorded and documented. Camera-ba-

sed, all-in-one inspection solutions ensu-

Inspection Technology

Extrusion 8/2017

re that composite materials are reliably

inspected at high resolutions. The new

systems can be deployed and integrated

in a targeted fashion, even in highly spe-

cialized manufacturing processes, while

covering all customer-specific require-

ments.

Complete inspection and quality

documentation in roving/tape

production

In the manufacturing of rovings/tapes,

where a large amount of windings are

produced right next to each other simul-

For the highest production efficiency: Reliable detection of loosely attached fibers (fuzz balls) in fiber-reinforced plastics and

additional 3D height measurement in topological expression

taneously, the inspection system moni-

tors the individual rovings/tapes with ex-

tremely high accuracy. All relevant de-

fects are detected and classified in real

time. This enables the machine operator

to take corrective action and eliminate

defects, thus significantly increasing the

share of usable product. In the produc-

tion of rovings/tapes, the system is able

to measure and evaluate each rov-

ing’s/tape`s width, as well as detect split

or protruding filaments. The system

creates a defects log for each individual

spool, thus ensuring 100% inspection

and quality documentation. Comprehen-

sive tools for statistical evaluations en-

able additional conclusions to be made

regarding the manufacturing process,

helping to optimize production lines –

saving time, costs and resources.

Typical defects on fiber composites are

detected, classified and visualized for

the user in real time

quality assurance: In addition to the monitoring of raw materi-

als (fabrics, roving) and epoxy resin coatings (pre-pregs), they

ensure that the individual rovings/tapes are measured and in-

spected, while also determining the height of topological mate-

rial defects in three dimensions. This significantly increases the

range of applications and improves production monitoring con-

siderably.