Chicago – Make plans to attend the IMTS 2014 Conferences to learn about Productivity and Quality Improvements for Tape Laying Machines.
DATE: Thursday, September 11 from 11:00 AM - 11:55 AM ROOM: W-192B
SPEAKER: Robert Harper, Forest-Liné (Fives Machining Systems, Inc.)
Aircraft program ramps-up have been instigating improvements in the productivity of Advanced Tape Laying machines for several years. These challenges have been addressed in several steps, and have mainly concentrated on the tape laying itself: offline pre-cutting of complex courses, increasing of tape width from 6”, to 12”, beefing-up of the machine feedrate, programming optimization.
The latest improvements have turned to a broader view; considering the process as a whole in order to optimize the floor to floor time.
This paper will highlight the benefit of 6-axis tape laying in increasing the precision of the lap and gap of adjacent courses, thus significantly reducing non-conformities. By respecting the perfect perpendicularity of the head in relation to the laying surface, we can practically eliminate hand reworking.
We will also highlight an automated scanning system (In Process Inspection or IPI) which displays real-time measurements during the process to the operator, and at the end of the operation in the form of a ply mapping chart and finally stored in a log file in connection with the part history system.
Quality control inspections at the foot of the machine are shorter, and it becomes easier and simpler to pinpoint deviations on the part. Consequently, human errors in detecting lap and gap non conformities are avoided. The quality control inspection is fully automated and results are traceable over the full life cycle of the part.
The educational and informative conferences run Sept. 8-11, 2014 in the West Building, Level 1. To register for this or any session, visit www.imts.com.
Source: IMTS