Mass production of CFRTC laminates

Thermoplastic composites are valued for their light weight and exceptional strength. But mainstream adoption has lagged due to shortcomings in existing production processes, which are slow, costly, in addition to being labour- and waste-intensive. To push broader use of these advanced materials across multiple industries, SABIC has invested in the composites industry’s first automated, digital system for the large-scale manufacturing of laminates made with its continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite (CFRTC) tapes.

 

At JEC World 2018 (stand L84, hall 5), SABIC is presenting the Digital Composites Manufacturing system, an automated and digitised production line developed with Airborne and powered by Siemens. The new line, slated to go live in early 2019, will aim to offer customisation capabilities – using sophisticated technologies and processes that can drive down cycle times and system costs.  

 

“Rapid mass production of high-quality, fully customised thermoplastic composite parts at an affordable cost will soon be a reality,” according to Gino Francato, global business leader, Composites, SABIC. He further said that the launch of the Digital Composites Manufacturing line, which is the composites industry’s first large-scale production solution, is a major step toward that goal.

 

The new large-scale manufacturing line, built by Airborne at its facility in The Netherlands using Siemens factory automation and digital control software, can produce multiple thermoplastic composite laminates every minute, achieving over a million parts annually. For ultimate flexibility, this system can be remotely operated, and can run multiple laminate sizes simultaneously. Machine learning concepts will be used to fine-tune quality and adaptive process control will allow settings to be modified on the fly.

 

 

The Digital Composites Manufacturing line will be supported by predictive engineering capabilities at SABIC’s Center of Excellence in The Netherlands. Predictive engineering for UDMAX™ tapes is based on computer-aided engineering (CAE) software that uses material data and material modeling (such as elastic properties and damage initiation/rupture behavior) to create simulations of how the composite material will perform in an application during its use, taking into account the influence of manufacturing processes.

 

The Digital Composites Manufacturing line will premiere its first-generation technology to meet immediate needs in the consumer electronics industry. The line will be able to mass-produce lightweight, high modulus and low warpage, custom-engineered laminates as per thickness, dimensions, lay-up preferences and desired performance. Made with carbon-fiber reinforced polycarbonate composite, these SABIC laminates will be used for laptop covers. Access to mass-produced thermoplastic composite parts can potentially benefit customers across a wide range of industries as well.