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Simulation based solutions for industrial manufacture of large infusion composite parts

PROJECTS
Funding
European
European Union
Duration
-
Status
Complete with results
Geo-spatial type
Other
Total project cost
€5 157 994
EU Contribution
€3 299 123
Project Acronym
INFUCOMP
STRIA Roadmaps
Vehicle design and manufacturing (VDM)
Transport mode
Airborne icon
Transport policies
Societal/Economic issues
Transport sectors
Passenger transport,
Freight transport

Overview

Call for proposal
FP7-AAT-2008-RTD-1
Link to CORDIS
Background & Policy context

Today, advanced composites use either layers of plies impregnated with resin (pre-pregs) to form a laminate, or the use Liquid Composites Moulding (e.g. RTM) of dry textiles. Pre-preg composites give superior mechanical properties due to toughened resins and high fibre content. However, they suffer from high material costs, limited shapeability, complex, expensive and time consuming manufacturing, and limited materials shelf life.

Infusion technologies can overcome these limitations, but are not fully industrialised and rely on costly prototype testing due to the lack of simulation tools.

Current infusion simulation technologies are approximate and only suited to small scale components, based on adaptations of Resin Transfer Moulding simulation. They are not accurate for large, thick and complex aerospace composites, where one sided tooling and vacuum membranes cause complex 3D heat/flow processes.

Objectives

The INFUCOMP project will develop the full simulation chain from preform design to manufacture (infusion), process/part optimisation and final part defects/mechanical performance prediction with a focus on the infusion step. The project covers all popular Liquid Resin Infusion (LRI) methods currently used in the Aerospace industry. Although focus is on aerospace applications, the work will be very relevant to other industries.

Methodology

The proposed technologies will allow economical manufacture of high performance, integrated, large scale composite structures, and thus positively contributing to their increased use. Benefits include lower cost, improved performance, greater payloads and fuel/emissions reductions.

The consortium members are from eight different CEC countries, and consists of aircraft and material manufacturers, suppliers, researchers and commercial software specialists. All have a recognised track record in their field.

Funding

Parent Programmes
Institution Type
Public institution
Institution Name
The European Commission
Type of funding
Public (EU)

Results

Virtual prototyping empowers aerospace engineering

EU-funded researchers are developing a simulation chain for the aerospace industry. Beginning with design, it ends with the manufacture of large-scale structures from advanced composite materials.

For the manufacture of large-scale structures and components, the aerospace industry has been using pre-impregnated composite materials, tape laying technologies and autoclave curing. The combination of these technologies allows toughened resins to be uniformly dispersed in a well-controlled fibre system, ensuring strength and fatigue resistance at a high material cost.

To date, the scientists have investigated alternative manufacturing methods based on liquid resin infusion (LRI) technologies, in which the resin is infused only after all dry textiles are assembled. Despite the many advantages, including lower material costs, LRI of large structures requires time-consuming 'trial and error' testing. The EU-funded 'Simulation based solutions for industrial manufacture of large infusion composite parts' (INFUCOMP) project aimed to solve this issue.

To help achieve more rapid manufacturing of high quality parts at a lower cost, the project team has built end-to-end virtual prototyping solutions from preform design to manufacturing. An ambitious set of computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools has been developed that build on existing capabilities of infusion simulation codes. Specifically, INFUCOMP researchers have extended PAM-RTM — an existing simulation software — to provide a simulation chain for LRI composites.

With the INFUCOMP tools covering fabric modelling, drape, assembly, infusion, cost and final performance predictions, costly and time-consuming prototype testing will be avoided. The capabilities of the new CAE tools have been validated on representative aircraft components manufactured using RTI technologies employed by four industrial partners.

The lower cost promised for the manufacture of high performance, large-scale components should contribute positively to the increased use of LRI technologies. More importantly, although the INFUCOMP project focused on aerospace applications, the new CAE tools are expected to be of great value to other industries, including automotive engineering.

Partners

Lead Organisation
Organisation
Esi Gmbh
Address
Mergenthalerallee 15-21, 65670 Eschborn, Germany
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€301 500
Partner Organisations
Organisation
Short Brothers Plc
Address
Airport Road, Queens Island, Belfast, BT3 9DZ, United Kingdom
EU Contribution
€174 575
Organisation
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.
Address
Ben Gurion International Airport, Lod 70100, Israel
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€196 992
Organisation
Inasco Hellas Etaireia Efarmosmenon Aerodiastimikon Epistimon Ee
Address
Napoleontos Zerva 18, 16675 Glyfada Athina, Greece
EU Contribution
€260 730
Organisation
Rise Sicomp Ab
Address
FIBERVAEGEN 2 - OEJEBYN, 941 26 PITEA, Sweden
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€210 938
Organisation
Esi Group
Address
Avenue De Suffren 100-102, 75008 Paris, France
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€233 169
Organisation
Association Pour La Recherche Et Le Développement Des Méthodes Et Processus Industriels
Address
Boulevard Saint Michel 60, 75272 Paris, France
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€415 578
Organisation
Piaggio Aero Industries S.p.a
Address
Viale Castro Pretorio 116, 185 ROMA, Italy
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€137 250
Organisation
Universitaet Paderborn
Address
Warburger Strasse 100, 33098 Paderborn, Germany
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€197 880
Organisation
Cranfield Aerospace Limited
Address
Cranfield University Campus Hangar 2, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, United Kingdom
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€214 710
Organisation
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Address
Oude Markt, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€332 640
Organisation
Panepistimio Patron
Address
University Campus- Rio, 26500 Patras, Greece
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€165 663
Organisation
Daher Aerospace Sas
Address
Route De Tours 23, 41400 Saint Julien De Chedon, France
Organisation website
EU Contribution
€224 415
Organisation
Hexel Reinforcements Sas
Address
Zi La Plaine Bp, 1121 Dagneux Montluel, France
EU Contribution
€233 083

Technologies

Technology Theme
Composite materials
Technology
Composite materials for structural purposes in the aircraft
Development phase
Research/Invention

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