JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011 - 58

robotics
Unparalleled benefits
The contribution made by robotics is also important in optimising the industrialisation of numerous composite processing, part finishing, structural assembly and inspection/testing technologies. Most of these technologies require robots with highly precise path following, and which are rigid during operation and capable of controlling several synchronised axes in addition to the robot's own particular kinematics. between failures) in excess of 65,000 hours. All this helps to generate substantial savings that foster the competitiveness of composites manufacturers in the long term. Still on the subject of these machining applications, when comparing robots with manual operations, this equipment helps safeguard operators against many major health risks, such as RSI (repetitive stress injury), injuries from cutting tools, the inhalation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as styrene, or of toxic dust released by machining operations. In short, robots therefore constitute a solution that offers high returns both economically and in terms of health for the composites industry.

MFTECH robots wind the Future !

Almost total flexibility
The machining, drilling, trimming, modelling and surface preparation of composite materials are all applications where multi-axis robots offer exceptional value for money. Compared to standard CNC and Cartesian-kinematics machines found on the market, robots offer far more flexibility and significantly better reliability. In addition to the pathfollowing precision required for these applications, the flexibility of robots makes it possible to manage several processes with a single device. By means of an automatic tool changer, the same robot is able to prepare the surface of parts prior to painting with force feedback control through the management of a 6D sensor, to steer a spindle at the end of the arm for drilling holes, and to carry a camera for the precise readjustment of the part to be treated. In this way, multi-axis robots can be used to handle a wide variety of different parts, repetitive and short production runs (involving maybe just several dozen parts), and frequent daily production changes. These production constraints, to which robots are especially suited, are typically encountered by SMEs manufacturing composite parts for mass distribution with polyester matrix and glass fibre reinforcements.

Pushing back the limits
Technological limits are being continually pushed back thanks to robotics and to the know-how of Kuka integrator partners. Hence, one of the latest technical challenges taken on by Coriolis Composites consisted in manufacturing extremely large aircraft fuselage parts and wind turbine blades. The latest cell designed by this company is a perfect industrial example. It allows fibres to be placed on extremely large manufacturing moulds. Coriolis Composites has become a global leader in this field, with its mastery of the most advanced robotics technologies. This cell uses two KR 500MT robots moving along a 20 m-long linear rail. The KR 500MT model, developed especially for machining applications using high cutting forces, is the only multi-axis robot on the market capable of a fibre compacting force of up to 800 daN, in addition to its carrying capacity of 500 kg. These two robots work concurrently in cooperation on moving moulds, which can weigh up to 20 metric tons, on either side of the rail. This production line also uses the latest Extended Motion technology, which can synchronise up to 20 axes. With regard to safety issues, innovation also plays its part: with this production line, the robots can work without the need for an expensive and cumbersome cage enclosure, while ensuring complete operator safety thanks to the Kuka Safe Operation system. n
More information: www.kuka.fr

Quality and productivity
At the cutting edge of technology, Kuka robots provide significant quality and productivity improvements in the production of medical prosthetics and of the vehicle fuel tanks of tomorrow, in particular for storing gaseous hydrogen. MF Tech, an official system partner of Kuka, has developed globally renowned expertise in the process of filament winding by multiaxis robots. Thanks to this know-how, the company has succeeded in developing, together with academic and industrial partners, innovative fuel tanks combining two major technical characteristics. Firstly, these are the first fuel tanks manufactured entirely out of composite materials with a thermoplastic polymer matrix, and therefore free of any metallic alloy. Compared to traditional manufacturing technologies, this drastically reduces the weight of the fuel tank, which leads to major reductions both in vehicle fuel consumption and VOC emissions that pollute the environment. Secondly, these fuel tanks offer exceptional mechanical performance, unmatched to date for this type of material. For example, the internal pressure resistance of the fuel tank measured in operation reaches in excess of 700 bar, and exceeds 1,645 bar for burst pressure.

jec composites magazine / No66 July - August 2011

Over 120,000 robots in operation

Thanks to the feedback gleaned from the deployment of over 120,000 robots worldwide, and the quality policy of the Kuka AG group, its multi-axis robots can boast an average MTBF (mean time

http://www.kuka.fr

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011