Production of Polymer Frame Composites Using Industrial Robots

Polymer frame composites are increasingly applied in aerospace and automotive industry. These composites are primarily preferred due to their excellent mechanical and physical properties, in particular their eminent tensile strength and exquisite flexibility as well as high resistance to harsh weather conditions and corrosion. In the frame composites production frames with circular cross-sections are frequently used. The frames are often composed of several parts with different cross-section radii (for instance composites for car door reinforcement elements). Correct winding angles and homogeneity of fibre windings on a given 3D shaped non-bearing frame are necessary prerequisites for the production of high-quality frame composites. This article presents an overview of a new method to ensure compliance with these two important conditions. A fiber-processing head and industrial robot are used in the process of winding the fibres onto the frame. To keep the correct winding angles and homogeneity for the given frame, an optimized robot trajectory is calculated off-line using a mathematical model of the winding process, matrix calculus and a differential evolution algorithm. The computational procedure is independent of the type of industrial robot and its software tools. The method is programmed in the Delphi development environment system. The scheme of the calculation procedure forms an integral part of this article. The presented method was verified in experimental laboratory tests.