Page 49 - Research Report 2021 - Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik

FeLiSa

Automated production of fibre-thermoplastic composite profiles for
open and closed aerospace structures in series application

The primary objective of the application-oriented research project FeLiSa is Period
the development of a novel process chain for the production of complex 01.04.2019 – 30.09.2022
shaped fibre-thermoplastic composite structural profiles. This is an auto-
mated, reproducible and, above all, energy-optimised “out of autoclave” pro- Project management
cess for the aerospace industry. The focus is on the primary structures that Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Maik Gude
recur in large numbers in the aircraft, such as C-spars. The preforms are in-
novatively manufactured in the combined tape-braid-patch (TBP) process and Contact
afterwards consolidated in a tooling system with energy-efficient, variothermal Veit Würfel
temperature control by means of an active heating-cooling system. The re- Jan Condé-Wolter
duction in cycle time compared to the established thermoset prepreg tech-
nology enables a twenty-fold increase in productivity. In addition, production Project partners
costs are to be reduced by means of continuous process automation and the • Boeing Deutschland GmbH
resulting improved reproducible component quality, and the “buy-to-fly” ratio • Siegfried Hofmann GmbH
of the carbon fibre-reinforced PEKK material is to be increased to 95 %, thus • AUMO GmbH
significantly reducing rework and scrap. At the end of the project, a prototyp- • herone GmbH
ical implementation of the TBP process and the consolidation of the profiles
in the developed tool system for the proof of functionality in a near-series Funding
environment for curved structures is aimed for.

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs
and Climate Action (BMWK): Federal
Aviation Research Programme LuFo V-3,
Funding line “Technology”
Funding code: 20W1727A

Managed by:

German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Tape-Braiding Tape-Patching

*

Consolidation Validation on demonstrator

The FeLiSa process chain for the automated production of complex shaped structural
profiles and its validation on the demonstrator.
* © Photo (Square pipe profile): herone GmbH

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