Paper number 400

END-EFFECTORS FOR PLY PLACEMENT AND CONSOLIDATION IN LOW COST COMPOSITE MANUFACTURE

H D Do¹, R Paton², I Herszberg ¹ and S John³

1Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre for Aerospace Design Technology, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001, Australia
2Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Composites structures Limited
506 Lorimer Street, Fishermen's Bend, Victoria, 3207, Australia
3Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, University, Bundoora East Campus, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia

Summary

An overview of end-effector design methodology necessary for ply placement and manipulation of dry reinforcement fabric and prepregs for composite manufacture is presented. Needle grippers, adhesive grippers, electrostatic grippers and vacuum grippers are discussed. Vacuum grippers were chosen as the most appropriate method for the pick and place task under consideration. Tests results for maximum suction force and shear force are presented here to demonstrate the suitability of this system. The integration of these end-effectors into a low-cost, automated composite manufacturing cell is described with emphasis on the development of a demonstration system. This demonstration system is designed to pick, place and consolidate carbon prepreg tapes.

Keywords

automated manufacture, stringer production, ply lay-up, robotic end-effector, vacuum ports, prepreg tape and fabric.