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composites


Blake figured out how to incorporate lasers into the composites laminating process, and today his company integrates its LaserGuide system with an automated fiber placement, or AFP, machine manufactured by ElectroImpact (Mulkiteo, WA). “That improved the cycle time for the laser projector by a


tremendous amount,” said Blake. “We have customers who save over an hour on each inspection cycle.” The LaserGuide software is compatible with FiberSIM,


TruLaser, Verisurf, metrology data and other CAD and nu- meric control data software. It works with the Windows XP, 2000, Vista and 7 operating systems. Blake recently added imaging to Assembly Guidance’s inspection lasers. Those images are stored permanently, can be enhanced for closer scrutiny of a part, and can be viewed simultaneously in the plant or remotely.


Blake explains that the layup operator is the first inspector, but a second inspector designated by the Federal Aviation Administration has to scrutinize the job too. Send- ing the image to the FAA-designated inspector’s device—whether he’s on the shop floor or in another part of the plant—helps improve quality and save


When it Comes to Composites, Lasers are Hot Guidance isn’t the only task for lasers on the shop floor


Automated Dynamics (Niskayuna, NY) uses thermal imaging to demonstrate precise control of laser energy distribution and real-time control of laser energy delivery.


time over having to locate him and wait for him to inspect the job, he said.


The image is also analyzed by computer software. “When you use automatic inspection by a computer, critical characteristics can’t be missed,” Blake said. “Human factors of fatigue, distraction and boredom are eliminated.”


In addition to aerospace, Assembly Guidance Systems serves high performance customers in wind turbine, marine, Formula 1, and stock automotive markets around the world. It also makes Multitasking KitGuide, a system to guide unloading and sorting of plies from the cutting table for up to three parts. Operators using Multitasking KitGuide have the option of wearing wireless printers to generate a label with a barcode to attach to each ply as the table is unloaded.


in the aerospace industry. Automated Dynamics (Niskayuna, NY) incorporates a proprietary laser system with its tape placement head to consolidate a thermoplastic tow in situ, or heat a thermoset tow, as it’s applied to a work piece. An integrated pyrometer measures the composite material’s tem- perature and adjusts the laser in a real-time, direct feedback loop, explains Rob Langone, company president. This allows precise, direct control of material temperature as it’s placed, even when placement speed varies. Automated Dynamics’s laser sys- tem eliminates the need for vacuum bags and autoclaves, along with their associated materials and operating costs. This represents over 90% sav- ings in energy costs when compared to hot gas or infrared heating—and orders of magnitude improvement when the autoclave process can be eliminated. It also offers some benefit over using hot inert gas, like nitrogen, or an infrared lamp for tow consolidation. With infrared, the operator has no


control over the lamp’s output or the composite material’s temperature, leaving him to make an educated guess about the consolidation process.


“With IR heating, what you can control is two steps away


from what you want to control,” said Langone, who started at the company in 1988 as a college student. In addition to developing high-performance automated fiber placement equipment like the laser incorporated with an ATP machine, the 30-year-old company specializes in solution-based engi- neering services and manufactures advanced thermoplastic composite structures.


Using the laser makes the process three to five times faster than using hot gas or infrared, according to company literature. The downsides to using the laser include cost, safety and incompatibility with composite materials. Although a laser heating system is significantly more expensive than alternative heating systems the cost of high- energy lasers is dropping rapidly as the technology improves. However, laser heating is able to deliver energy savings and


104 — Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing 2016


Photo courtesy Automated Dynamics


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