Technical Director Pultrex Limited, UK
7th Annual
Composite Pressure Vessel Symposium Porto, Portugal
In this presentation I will outline the development of a concept machine for the Amblifibre project by
• Introducing the objectives of the Amblifire project and introducing the consortium members
• The role of Pultrex within the project
• The design issues encountered during the project and some of the solutions proposed to overcome them
• The current state of the concept machine • The next stages in the project
A Horizon 2020 European Union funded Project
Adaptive Model Based Control for laser assisted fibre reinforced tape winding
Develop and validate the first intelligent model based laser assisted tape winding system for fibre reinforced
thermoplastics
Suitable for Continuous and Discontinuous production
The project consortium consists of – Academic partners
– And Industrial partners
Machine Builders, specialising in Composite Processing machinery
Located on the East Coast of the UK 1 hour from London
Main roles within Amblifibre: – Conceptual machine design
– Assist and advise the consortium on user interface – Business planning
– Exploitation
The concept machine is required to provide a method of allowing the tape winding head to be used to produce – Continuous winding
– Discontinuous winding
The processing parameters for the machine were provided by two of the industrial partners, who are participating as end users
GE Oil and Gas manufacture risers and provide input into the continuous product requirement
HBN Tecknik manufacture automotive tanks and provide the discontinuous product requirement
Continuous winding is seen as a long tubular product
For the Amblifibre product the range was determined as
Minimum diameter 14.5” [368.0 mm] Maximum diameter 2.5” [63.5 mm] Wind angles
Pipe lengths, maximum 3 Km [1.8 miles]
The pipes are currently manufactured in stages and passed from coil to coil
Discontinuous winding
Discontinuous winding is seen as discrete products such as shafts or pressure vessels
For the Amblifibre product the range was determined as
Minimum diameter 510 mm [20”] Maximum diameter 150 mm [6”] Wind angles
Tape placement head
Braked Tape spool
Laser optic
Compaction roller
Head coupling interface
Existing unit
Dimensions 1200x850x400 Weight
Housing over tape feed mechanism
The head is used to feed the tape from the spool to the former and Supports the laser optic and adaptive control elements
The tape placement head has – Associated PLC control
– The optic is connected to a laser source by a fibre optic cable
– The tape braking and feed motors require 24v power – The compaction roller and other elements in the head
require a pneumatic source
The winding process involves the wrapping of the tape around the former
For most winding this is achieved by rotating the former
For the continuous product this is difficult due to the size of the coil [35 foot diameter]
The Pullwinding process wraps fibres onto a “continuous” former
Winding discontinuous products requires area around the dome
Tape requires a “flat” path
Winding path similar to 6 axis filament winding
Former is rotated
Is it possible to produce a combination of rotating head and rotating former solution?
Can the multi axis requirement be met using a static former?
Health and safety legislation for lasers
CE marking
Can the conceptual unit be manufactured at a marketable value?
Rotate laser around former
Use multiple laser heads for improved production rates
Investigate multiple axis control on head and reciprocating former motion
– Required axes for continuous product are:
Main head rotation: to rotate about former Linear feed: parallel to former axis
Radial : to adjust pipe diameter
Rotary about radial: to place tape at required wind angle
– Required axes for discontinuous product are:
Main head rotation: to rotate about former Linear feed: parallel to former axis
Linear feed: perpendicular to former axis Radial: to adjust vessel diameter
Rotary about radial: to set tape path
Initial Solution - Challenges
Laser fibre optic – prevent wrapping during rotation
Support of continuous product to keep it concentric to the wind axis
Control of axes
Develop a modular concept
– Rotary head for continuous product
– Chuck and tailstock with multi axis delivery for discontinuous product – Rotate the former and utilise existing winding control strategies
– Common frame and rotary drive to allow a combined solution
To overcome the issue of the fibre optic cable we opted to mount the laser source on the rotating ring.
Require cooling water for the laser source and 3 phase power
Mount the Tape head associated PLC IO on the rotating ring
Continuous product to be pulled by caterpillar drives
A combined pneumatic and cooling water slip ring introduced behind main ring with an open bore.
An electrical slip ring is mounted on the main support frame.
The control signals to the PLC IO will be via Bluetooth©
Development of proposed concept
For the discontinuous a means of multiple axis control is required
Option 1 – a gantry delivery with multiple axes
Option 2 – Use a 6 axis robot
To allow the combined concept a method of transferring the tape head between the ring and the robot has been developed
Selection of final concept by consortium
Cell enclosure design to meet laser safety requirements
Integration of adaptive control to final operator interface
Production of cell animation
Cell enclosure
– Will need to be fully sealed to prevent stray laser emissions in a production environment
– Will need to have minimum footprint for installation – Process will be monitored by CCTV cameras
Operator interface
- Provide all the visual feedback and controls at on location
Thanks to
– The Amblifibre consortium
– The Pultrex team working on the Amblifibre project alongside their everyday duties
– Seifert and Skinner & Associates
– And thank you for listening
