LEAP engine fan blades:

INDUSTRIALIZING
HIGH-VOLUME 3D
WEAVING, RTM

FEBRUARY 2023

Composite opportunities in
eVTOLs / 16
Metal AM advances in
composite tooling, Part 2 / 30
Novel composite technology
replaces welded joints in
tubular structures / 52
A property of Gardner Business Media VOL 9 No 2
 Better with Braid
Braided Solutions Enabling High Rate, Low Cost Manufacture

Sleevings
The Fiber Continuity of Braided Sleevings
Provides Increased Performance, Ease of Layup,
Conformability & Repeatability

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COLUMNS
4 From the Editor
Will CW editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan soon be
replaced by ChatGPT?
6 Design & Testing
Strip-type shape sensor method claims
real-time measurement of ply-wise
deformation.
10 The Troubleshooter
Performing regular maintenance of the
layup tool for successful sealing and
release is required to reduce the risk of
part adherence.
12 Predicting Failure
9T Labs used Additive Fusion Technology
to iterate CFRTP designs, fully exploit
continuous fiber printing and outperform
stainless steel and black metal designs in
failure load and weight.
16 Past, Present & Future
20 Gardner Business Index
» DEPARTMENTS
22 Trends
48 New Products
50 Applications
51 Marketplace
51 Showcase
56 Post Cure
» ON THE COVER
Albany Engineered Composites (AEC)
jointly operates, with Safran, three
facilities to manufacture fan blades, fan
cases and spacers for CFM International’s
LEAP aircraft engine. The final carbon
fiber blades shown here, 3D woven and
RTM'd, represent AEC's implementation of
an efficient, high-quality, well-controlled
manufacturing process for high-rate
aerospace manufacture. See p. 38.
Source | Albany Engineered Composites
CompositesWorld (ISSN 2376-5232) is published
monthly and copyright © 2023 by Gardner Business
Media Inc. 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-
3029. Telephone: (513) 527-8800. Printed in U.S.A.
Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH and
additional mailing offices. All rights reserved.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to CompositesWorld Magazine, 6915
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEBRUARY 2023 / Vol: 9 No
–: 2
FEATURES
30 Metal AM advances
in composite tooling,
Part 2
Toolmakers and molders continue to
realize the benefits of additive versus
conventional/subtractive manufac-
turing of molds and mold components.
By Peggy Malnati
38 Plant tour: Albany
Engineered
Composites,
Rochester, N.H., U.S.
30
Efficient, high-quality, well-controlled
composites manufacturing at volume is
the mantra for this 3D weaving
specialist.
By Jeff Sloan
38
FOCUS ON DESIGN
52 Novel composite technol-
ogy replaces welded joints
in tubular structures
The Tree Composites TC-joint replaces traditional
welding in jacket foundations for offshore wind
turbine generator applications, advancing the
world’s quest for fast, sustainable energy
deployment.
By Stewart Mitchell
Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. accurate. In applying recommendations, however, you should exercise care and normal MEMBERSHIPS:
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 @CompositesWrld

V.P. ADVANCED MATERIALS MEDIA GROUP Rick Brandt

rbrandt@gardnerweb.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Sloan
jeff @compositesworld.com
SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR Ginger Gardiner
Complete Ultrasonic Testing Systems For ggardiner@compositesworld.com
Your High-Performance Materials TECHNICAL EDITOR Hannah Mason
hmason@compositesworld.com
MANAGING EDITOR Grace Nehls
Conventional and phased gnehls@gardnerweb.com
array inspection DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR Cara Decknadel
cdecknadel@gardnerweb.com
SENIOR COPY EDITOR Jann Bond
New construction and jannb@gardnerweb.com
system upgrades DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Scott Stephenson
AND EVENTS sstephenson@compositesworld.com
Becky Taggert
Multi-axis immersion ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER
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tanks and gantries GRAPHIC DESIGNER Susan Kraus
skraus@gardnerweb.com
C-scan and full MARKETING MANAGER Chris Saulnier
csaulnier@gardnerweb.com
waveform compatible CW CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dan Adams adams@eng.utah.edu

Louis Dorworth lou@abaris.com
Peggy Malnati peggy@compositesworld.com
Northborough, MA | Banning, CA Karen Mason kmason@compositesworld.com
+1-508-393-0155 | sales@matec.com | matec.com Stewart Mitchell smitchell@compositesworld.com
Karen Wood kwood@compositesworld.com
CW SALES GROUP

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NTC-425 CYANATE ESTER SYSTEM mschwartz@gardnerweb.com
A unique lower cost cyanate ester EUROPEAN SALES OFFICE Simone Mas / EUROPEAN SALES MANAGER
prepreg resin system that allows a low initial smas@gardnerweb.com
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2 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 FROM THE EDITOR
» My kids came home in mid-December for the holidays. I
mentioned, one morning, that I had a CW article to finish writing
before the end of the day. One of my sons said, tongue in cheek,
“Why don’t you have ChatGPT write it?”
ChatGPT, if you are not familiar, is an AI-driven platform
that responds to user-entered questions and requests and then
generates a narrative response
culled from public information
Should I worry and data.
about losing my My son, of course, was not
job to ChatGPT? serious, but his question got me
to wondering: Has AI evolved such
that the kind of content generated
by CW’s editors might be replaced by automation? And, more
to the point, should I worry about losing my job to a ChatGPT
editor-in-chief?
To find out, I put a few (more than a few, actually) compos-
ites-specific queries into ChatGPT. My first was this: Summarize
the trends in fiber-reinforced composites manufacturing? The
response, which took ChatGPT about  seconds to write,
was this:
The fiber-reinforced composites manufacturing industry has seen
a trend towards increased automation and use of advanced manu-
facturing techniques, such as D printing and high-pressure resin
injection. Additionally, there has been a growing demand for light-
weight, high-strength composite materials in various industries,
such as aerospace, automotive and wind energy. In addition, the
use of sustainable and bio-based materials in composites manufac-
turing is also becoming more prevalent.
This is a pretty good, if a little generic. But my prompt was
generic. So, I decided to try another more specific prompt: What
are the challenges associated with recycling of carbon fiber-rein-
forced composites? The answer given by ChatGPT, simplified
below, included:
• Separation of materials
• Fiber degradation
• Cost of recycling
• Limited end-of-life options
• Quality of recycled material
• Lack of standardization
4 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
That was pretty good as well. I wondered, then, how ChatGPT
would respond to a prompt that references information that might
be more difficult to access. I thought about CW’s tour of Albany
Engineered Composites (p. ), which had not yet been posted on
our site, and came up with this: Describe the composites manu-
facturing technologies employed at Albany Engineered Compos-
ites in Rochester, New Hampshire. The response:
I couldn’t find any specific information about the manufac-
turing technologies currently used by Albany Engineered Compos-
ites in Rochester, New Hampshire. Albany Engineered Compos-
ites is a company that specializes in the design and manufacture
of advanced composite structures for aerospace and industrial
applications. They offer a wide range of services, including mate-
rials and process development, prototyping and low-to-high-
volume production. They are known for their expertise in advanced
composite materials, such as carbon fiber and glass fiber-reinforced
thermoplastics, and their use of various manufacturing techniques
such as autoclave cure, resin transfer molding, vacuum-assisted
resin transfer molding and compression molding.
What I found is that ChatGPT, when asked to produce compos-
ites manufacturing information that is publicly and readily avail-
able, does an admirable job — and quickly. Responses are gener-
ally relatively short and for the most part accurately reflect the
state of the technology and industry.
But can ChatGPT do what we editors at CW do? Obviously
not. There is a level of detail and immediacy conveyed by CW’s
reporting that can’t (yet) be replicated by ChatGPT. For example,
until we publish the Albany plant tour, ChatGPT can’t write about
it. So my job is safe for now.
In the meantime, you should test ChatGPT yourself. And if you
want to have some composites fun, try this prompt: Write a story
about a little boy who visits a carbon fiber manufacturing facility.
JEFF SLOAN — Editor-In- Chief
 DESIGN & TESTING

Measuring ply-wise deformation during

consolidation using embedded sensors
» When manufacturing a composite part, lami-
nated raw materials such as carbon fiber-rein-
forced polymer (CFRP) prepreg change their
external shape during heating and forming. As
temperature increases, resin viscosity decreases
and voids between prepreg plies collapse
under vacuum and external autoclave pressure.
During this consolidation process, internal fiber
orientation and alignment can be disrupted in
FIG. 1 Strip-type deformation sensors
corners and where there are gaps or overlaps in
One ply of cured carbon fiber/epoxy prepreg to be monitored is used as a thin, flexible sheet with optical
the prepreg sheets as the fiber-resin suspension
fibers — one embedded in the upper surface and one in the lower surface. The sensor can be embedded
flows from high-pressure areas to low-pressure without changing laminate thickness by removing one ply locally and replacing it with the sensor.
areas. This consolidation continues until the
Source (all images) | MDPI
prepreg laminate is cured and is an important
process that determines composite quality.
Until now, technology to measure the deformation occurring in
each ply during this process has been unsatisfactory.
Simulation models for predicting consolidation deforma-
tion have been developed and verified by physical experiments,
but such evaluations have mostly measured samples after cure
and have not shown shape change progression in situ. Recent
advances in X-ray computed tomography (CT) have made it
possible to measure microscopic structural changes in composite
materials nondestructively. However, CT experiments have typi-
cally been impractical because the equipment is expensive and
proprietary, the test sample is limited to a small size (e.g., <  ×
 centimeters) and it is challenging to perform such measure-
ments in a high-pressure environment like an autoclave.
Optical fibers with fiber Bragg grating sensors have shown the
most promise, successfully used to evaluate the cure-induced
deformation of composite materials []. However, the optical fiber
must be adhered to the composite material by the gelled resin,
and the optical fiber and the composite material must deform
as one without the sensor slipping or rotating. Therefore, it has
been difficult to measure consolidation deformation before resin
solidification.
New sensor for in-situ consolidation monitoring
A composites research group at the University of Tokyo (Japan)
recently developed a method for real-time measurement of
ply-wise deformation during consolidation [2] which uses a
strip-type fiber optic sensor (Fig. 1). This sensor comprises two
100-micrometer-diameter optical fibers — one embedded in the
upper surface and one in the lower surface of a thin flexible sheet.
In this research, a single -micrometer-thick ply of cured
Toray (Tokyo, Japan) TS/ prepreg (Tg  °C) was used
both for the thin, flexible sheet and the CFRP to be monitored. By
removing the prepreg in the sensor area, the sensor was inserted
without changing the laminate thickness, and being the same
material as the laminate, the sensor was not a foreign object.
[Editor’s note: Fiber optic sensors were laid up in a test laminate
and demonstrator part as the # tow in a Coriolis Composites
AFP machine and used to monitor prepreg cure in the SuCoHS
project.]
When this flexible sensor is embedded in a composite part
during layup, it deforms with the surrounding plies — i.e., the
sensor shape along the sensor axis and the deformation of the
surrounding plies are identical. When the shape sensor is bent
following the deformation of the prepreg, a strain difference
is generated in the two optical fibers. This strain difference is
measured by a distributed strain measurement device — in this
case, the ODiSI A- by Luna Innovations (Roanoke, Va., U.S.) —
and the shape is calculated from the strain difference obtained.
The ODiSI uses swept-wavelength interferometry to measure the
Rayleigh backscatter as a function of position in the optical fiber
and then calculates strain from the amount of shift in the scattered
light spectrum.
Because the core of conventional optical fiber strain sensors —
where strain is measured — is on the neutral axis, the measured
strain does not change when the embedded sensor undergoes
bending deformation of the surrounding plies. However, the
strip-type sensor described here can indeed measure the bending
deformation and is fixed at the top and bottom surfaces within the
prepreg ply. Thus, its stripe shape is not subject to twisting around
the sensor axis and ply-wise deformation in the out-of-plane
direction can be measured accurately and stably prior to resin
solidification.

6 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 In-situ deformation sensors

FIG. 2 Cross-sectional micrographs of gap specimen after curing

Note the photo is compressed horizontally by a factor of 5 to make deformation more clearly visible. Third
layer from the top has a 5-millimeter-wide gap, and the white dashed line (left side) indicates ply boundary
at time of layup. A flexible 90°-sensor was embedded in the second layer from top, and the ply’s concave
shape caused by the gap was accurately calculated (blue dashed line). The proposed sensor system can
capture consolidation phenomena leading up to this final deformation state.

Such measurement can be started from the layup process. The sensor captures
various important phenomena that affect the part quality, such as ply waviness
during layup, wrinkle formation during pressurization, and fiber movement and
resin flow during heating. The capability of the sensor is determined by the perfor-
mance of the strain measurement device. The ODiSI A- has a spatial resolution
of less than  millimeter, a deformation resolution on the order of micrometers and
a sensor length of up to  meters. The measurement speed is  hertz or more,
which enables the sensor to capture high-speed deformation phenomena. Further
advances in measurement devices will enable users to capture faster deformations
in smaller areas.

Composite gap monitoring

Consolidation monitoring was conducted on test specimens made to represent
typical gaps and overlaps in an AFP laminate. Toray T700S/2592 prepreg was hand
laid with the stacking sequence [02/902]S and a 5-millimeter-wide gap and lap on
one ply of the 90° layer just below the upper 0° layer.
Strip-type sensors were fabricated by placing two optical fibers  millimeters apart
on the upper and lower surfaces of one ply of the uncured prepreg and curing in an
autoclave with metal caul plates. The cured sheet was then cut into -millimeter-wide
sensor strips. Two sensors were made to evaluate the influence of sensor rigidity
— a stiff °-sensor with carbon fibers in the sensor axis direction and a flexible
°-sensor with carbon fibers orthogonal to the sensor axis. Each type of sensor
was placed in two -millimeter-wide sections removed from one ply of ° prepreg
directly above the gap/lap. The entire test specimen was then vacuum bagged and
cured in an autoclave.
Fig.  shows the cross-sectional micrograph of the gap at the °-sensor position
after cure. To make the deformation more visible, the micrograph was compressed
horizontally by a factor of . The third layer from the top had a -millimeter-wide
gap (white dashed lines on the left side), resulting in a concave surface after cure.
The shape obtained by the sensor (blue dashed line) and the deformation at the gap
section agreed well, confirming the high sensitivity and accuracy of the proposed
sensor system. Furthermore, the overall deformation induced was the same as in
the area where the sensor was not embedded (black dashed line), confirming that
the consolidation deformation was not disturbed by the sensor.

CompositesWorld.com 7
 DESIGN & TESTING
Note, this is simply a comparison of the sensor response and
the specimen cross-sectional shape after cure. The shape sensor
can capture the consolidation phenomena leading up to this
final deformation state. In fact, the concave shape in the gap
section did not monotonically deepen during the curing process,
but instead — once deepened by autoclave pressurization and
heating — it then relaxed by the flow of the resin and splaying of
the fiber at the gap edges to reach its final shape. Check reference
for more details.
Based on the deformation history measured using this
embedded strip sensor method, the manufacturing process can
be optimized to obtain the desired shape after cure. For example,
the strength of compaction during lamination or the timing to
increase autoclave pressure can be adjusted to suppress fiber
waviness. Temperature hold time or the rate of temperature
increase also can be modified to facilitate the relaxation of unde-
sired deformations.
Future composite parts
This new shape sensor enables in-situ observation of the previ-
ously uncapturable consolidation deformation [3]. At this time,
the technology demonstration is limited to thermoset compos-
ites cured in autoclaves, but expansion to a wider range of
processes, including thermoplastic composites and welding
processes, will be addressed in the near future.
NET SHAPE COMPOSITES
ENGINEERING / TOOLING / EQUIPMENT
Radius Engineering, Inc.
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA www.radiuseng.com
Phone: (801) 886-2624
8 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
The information provided by the sensors is expected to have
a wide range of applications such as material characterization,
process optimization, product quality assurance, validation of
simulation models and construction of digital twins. As reported
in CW, the development of sensing technology for composite
materials has been remarkable in recent years. Within composite
parts being produced today, as yet unknown deformation
phenomena may be waiting to be measured by these advanced
sensor technologies.
REFERENCES
1
Minakuchi, S. (2015). “In situ characterization of direction-dependent cure-induced shrinkage
in thermoset composite laminates with fiber-optic sensors embedded in through-thickness and
in-plane directions.” Journal of Composite Materials, 49(9), 1021-1034.
2
Minakuchi, S., Niwa, S., & Takeda, N. (2022). “Strip-Type Embeddable Shape Sensor Based on
Fiber Optics for In Situ Composite Consolidation Monitoring.” Sensors, 22 (17), 6604.
3
Tamagawa, T., Minakuchi, S., Niwa, S. & Takeda, N. (2023). “Consolidation deformation of
composite corner depending on compression force during layup: In situ monitoring using fiber-
optic-based embeddable shape sensor.” Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing,
165, 107371, sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359835X22005528
Dr. Shu Minakuchi is an associate professor at The University
of Tokyo (Japan). He obtained his PhD from the university
in 2008. He has been working on fiber-optic-based in-situ
monitoring and modeling of composites structures for more
than 15 years.
PARTNER
 Smarter
composites
release systems.
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS + IDEAS

From the highly complex to the everyday, we provide custom solutions that provide
consistency, dependability, and value, from aerospace applications to automotive,
construction, marine, sporting goods, wind energy, and more. And we do so in a safe,
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© Copyright 2023 Chem-Trend L.P.

VISIT CHEMTREND.COM/COMPOSITES All Rights Reserved.
 THE TROUBLESHOOTER

Proper application of semi-permanent

mold release systems

» How many among us have ever stuck a FIG. 1 Mold release

composite part in a layup tool? Was there systems
damage to the part or the tool while trying to The sealer is designed to reduce mechani-
demold it? Was the part scrapped as a result? cal sites on the tool. The release agent pro-
What was required to fix the tool? Was produc- vides a low surface energy to help promote
tion delayed due to this incident? We could go part release.
Source (all images) | Abaris Training Resources
on and on with these questions, but I think you
get the point — improper part release is costly.
When in search of the root cause of a stuck
part, one might first focus on the mold release
agent itself. While a good starting point (there
could be issues with the release agent itself due
to improper storage and handling), there may be
more to it than a material problem and we may
need to dig deeper to identify the real cause so
we can implement sound corrective action and
prevent it from happening again.

Semi-permanent release systems

Semi-permanent (SP) release systems are made
up of two materials, a polymer coating that
serves as a tool surface sealer, and a separate
polymer coating that acts as a release agent. The
tool sealer is just that, a fully cured coating on FIG. 2 Tool surface cleaning FIG. 3 Tool sealer coating
the tool surface to fill micropores and reduce Cleaning and abrading the tool surface promotes Each thin coat of tool sealer is applied and allowed
micromechanical sites that may otherwise wetting and adhesion of subsequent tool sealer to dry. This is repeated until all coats are applied.
inhibit part release. The release agent is a cured coats. Afterwards, all coats are fully cured prior to the
polymer coating that adheres to the sealer layer application of the release agent.
and provides a low-energy surface, enabling
part release after processing (Fig 1). cycles, the aerospace community endeavors to mitigate the risk
There are many water-based and solvent-borne formulas avail- of a part sticking by applying a fresh coat of release agent over the
able from SP manufacturers that are designed to accommodate previous coat(s) after each molding cycle. This results in a “good”
different materials and process challenges. For example, you may layer of release agent being applied over a buildup of layers that are
need a specific system that works best for hand layup or autoclave- continuously degrading. Nevertheless, every reapplication operation
cured prepregs, versus deep-draft resin transfer or compression presents its own risk each time operators are required to apply a fresh
molding. It is best to use the right products for the right applica- coat. Some of the issues that raise the risk of failure are as follows:
tion; in some cases, a solvent-borne sealer might be chosen to seal • Not achieving full coverage with the new coat, especially in areas
the mold while a water-based release agent might used in produc- where resin flash has been scraped off the tool or where wedges
tion to reduce exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in were used to remove the previous part during demolding — this
the environment. usually results in the part adhering to the tool in these areas.
The reason these materials are deemed “semi-permanent” • The release agent is allowed to puddle in the radii, around features
is that they deteriorate over time as the mold is subjected to or hardware, or excessive amounts were left on the tool surface
multiple thermal cycles and part demolding operations. Trace for any period of time during the application process, resulting in
amounts of the release coating are abraded away with each run adhesion (bonding) instead of releasing from the part.
and, over time, microcracks start to form in the remaining layer(s) • Fresh release agent is not allowed to flash between cross-coats, or
due to thermal expansion and shrinkage of the materials. the coating is not properly cured prior to returning to production.
While most SP release agents are designed to hold up for - Again, this can result in adhesion instead of release from the part.

10 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 Mold release best practices

FIG. 4 Masking off the tool surface
Mask off all areas that are not to be treated with mold
release — especially areas where bag sealant tape is to be
applied (bag sealant tape does not stick well to a released
surface).
FIG. 5 Release wipes
Some manufacturers can supply release-
coated wipes to avoid excessive release agent
from being deployed. This prevents puddling
in the corners or in low spots in the tool.
FIG. 6 Sealer vs. release coat
A clear difference between the mold sealer and the release
coat is visible in this photo. The sealer (at edges) is lighter in
color like the glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) tool itself,
and the mold release appears slightly darker and glossier.

Even if operators are diligent and follow strict protocols to prevent
sticking, too much buildup of good layers over bad increases the
chance of the underlying coats flaking off the surface and exiting
with the part. For this reason (and the fact that buildup changes the
surface dimensions), regular maintenance is required to reduce this
risk by stripping the built-up layers back to the tool or tool sealer and
starting again with fresh sealer and/or release coats. Typically, end
users will specify tool maintenance intervals based upon production
rate (number of cycles) or time in production (number of weeks/
months).
Following is a generic list of steps to follow to achieve a successful
seal and release system, starting from a pristine tool surface to
reapplication of SP release agents in production.
Initial preparation with tool sealer:
. Clean the tool surface using an approved mold cleaner and wipes.
. Lightly energize the entire tool surface with ultra-fine abrasives.
Repeat the cleaning operation (Fig ).
. Apply a light coat of tool sealer and allow to dry for - minutes
prior to applying the next coat (Fig. ).
. Apply remaining coats (up to six total) in the same manner as
above.
. Fully cure the tool sealer as prescribed by the manufacturer
before proceeding with release application.
Initial mold release application:
. Mask off the tool surface outside of part area if vacuum bag
sealant will be used (Fig ).
. Apply a very light coat of release agent and allow to dry -
minutes prior to applying the next coat. Pre-coated release wipes
can help this effort (Fig. ).
. Repeat the preceding step until the recommended number of
coats are applied.
. Fully cure the release coating as prescribed by the manufac-
turer prior to molding. An elevated temperature cure is highly
recommended.
. Remove the tape from the tool periphery. Look for a contrast
between the release coat and the sealer. The release coat surface
should be slightly glossier (Fig ).
. The tool is now ready for use in production.
Reapplication of mold release in production:
. Carefully remove all debris from the mold surface, especially
where resin flash remains or where wedging has occurred. Use
soft scrapers and approved wipes (do not use solvents).
. Using a cross-coat pattern, apply a very light coat of release agent
and allow to dry - minutes prior to applying the next coat.
. Apply a second coat in the same manner and cure as prescribed,
before returning the tool to production.
A common theme for achieving best results — use multiple and
very thin coats of release agent while providing full coverage of
the tool surface — is the key to success. Promote a “less is more”
philosophy with the coatings and never compromise the time
between coats or the final cure. This approach to using SP systems
will result in better release at demolding and less risk of any parts
sticking in the future.
Louis Dorworth is the direct services manager at Abaris Training
Resources Inc. (Reno, Nev., U.S.). Lou has been involved in the
composites industry since 1978 and has experience in material
and process (M&P) engineering, research and development
(R&D), tooling, manufacturing engineering, teaching and
troubleshooting. Lou is a coauthor of the textbook titled “Essentials of Advanced
Composite Fabrication and Damage Repair,” second edition.

CompositesWorld.com 11
 PREDICTING FAILURE
Optimizing a
thermoplastic
composite
helicopter
door hinge
» 9T Labs (Zürich, Switzerland) has developed a 3-step manu-
facturing workflow called Additive Fusion Technology (AFT) to
produce composite parts using a cost-competitive and automated
process. This workflow begins with designing and analyzing a part
using 9T Labs’ Fibrify design software. Continuous fiber-reinforced
preforms are then created by deposition of a unidirectional tape
filament in 9T Labs’ Build Module. These preforms are then placed
in 9T Labs’ Fusion Module and compression molded. This final
consolidation step merges the preforms, eliminates voids and
outputs lightweight, high-strength, net-shape parts.
This integrated process chain enables serial production of parts
with >% fiber-volume fraction and <-% voids with minimal
waste and at lower cost than metals. Depending on part size, a
single Build Module and Fusion Module set — both have a build
envelope of  ×  ×  millimeters — can produce up to ,
preforms and , parts per year, respectively. AFT also enables
complex, fine-scale details and very accurate control of fiber
orientation to tailor designs for optimized load-carrying capability,
weight, manufacturing speed and cost.
T Labs collaborated with the University of Applied Sciences
Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW, Windisch) to study the use of
AFT to produce a structural carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic
(CFRTP) hinge for a helicopter door (Fig. ). The benchmark was
a CNC-machined stainless steel hinge used on an Airbus Helicop-
ters (formerly Eurocopter) EC door. This hinge was attached to
the rotorcraft’s carbon fiber/epoxy door with four M-sized bolts
and designed to withstand a maximum static load of almost .
kilonewtons of force perpendicular to the bearing load with the
door open (Fig. ).
Previously, a team in France had benchmarked the same part
using hand-laminated and compression-molded chopped carbon
fiber (CF)/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) tapes. The goal of the T
Labs/FHNW study was to outperform the benchmark, which had
a yield point of  kilonewtons, as well as the French design, which
failed at . kilonewtons.
Iterating AFT designs, increased failure load
Three AFT designs were developed and printed using readily avail-
able CF/polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) tapes — pre-slit to the
equivalent of 1-2K tows — and neat polymer filaments. All three
12 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
FIG. 1 CFRTP hinge
FHNW in Switzerland collaborated to optimize this carbon fiber/PEKK bracket
made using 9T Lab’s Additive Fusion Technology.
Source (all images) | 9T Labs
3D-fabricated designs incorporated metal bushings in the four bolt
holes and in the main bearing hole for the hinge pin. The process
began by using 9T Labs’ cloud-based Fibrify software suite, which
interfaces with common structural analysis packages via plugins.
The Fibrify design suite is an extension to the SpaceClaim D
modeling tool within the Ansys (Canonsburg, Pa., U.S.) CAE/multi-
physics simulation environment. For the helicopter door hinge,
the first black metal design (Fig. a) was imported from an existing
CAD file into SpaceClaim. This design used the same internal and
external geometry as the benchmark. Fiber paths were laid out
using Fibrify options (e.g., band generator, line or contour reference
for infill, vertical distribution tool, etc.) to provide a typical quasi-
isotropic (°, °, ±°) laminate with no optimization to exploit
anisotropic composite properties — for example, there was no fiber
orientation per specific geometries or load paths. The black metal
part comprised  layers in the bottom horizontal plate and  layers
in the vertical plate with each layer measuring . millimeter thick.
Dimensions for the next two designs — first fiber layup and
second fiber layup (Fig. c) — were modified slightly (see table in
Fig. ., p. ) to speed up printing; fiber orientations also were opti-
mized to take full advantage of anisotropic composite properties.
First fiber layup. Optimization began by exporting the black metal
design into Ansys to run finite element analysis (FEA) simulations.
The design was exported as an HDFC file into Ansys Composite
PrepPost (ACP) for isotropic optimization. The hinge boundary
conditions and loads were entered and simulation results were used
to improve the CF/PEKK hinge design (Fig. b).
This resulting first fiber layup (Fig. c) improved failure load
by % compared to the black metal design in FEA simulations.
Failure occurred away from the hinge pin toward the “back” of the
part where the vertical plate meets the horizontal plate.
Second fiber layup. To further increase the strength of the part, a
second optimization was then performed, adding fiber to reinforce
the initial failure area. This second fiber layup increased failure load
 CFRTP door hinge design

FIG. 2 Metallic benchmark

The benchmark in this study was an aero-
space-grade, CNC-milled stainless steel part
measuring 112 × 42 × 22.5 millimeters with
a maximum static load of 2.172 kilonewtons
perpendicular to the bearing force with the
door open.
Source | Wikimedia Commons, photographer Abrileroux
(left) and 9T Labs (right)

by another % and shifted failure to the hinge pin area in the
(a) Black metal design.
vertical plate. Thus, the failure was now in the area of a design-
restricted geometry, so that no further optimization was possible
without changing geometry and/or thickness of the part beyond
what was allowed in this project.

Validated results
The first and second fiber layup designs were produced using a
multi-body strategy, splitting the part into four subparts (Fig. 3d).
This approach allows fibers in all spatial directions to fully exploit
the anisotropic features of continuous fiber printing, aligning the
fibers to the loads. The four subparts were printed using 9T Labs’
(b) Load conditions and topology optimization (TO) applied to black metal design
Red Series Build Module and then fused together by compression to better exploit the AFT process.
molding in the 9T Labs’ Fusion Module using a machined steel
matched tool set. Note that only 6 kilowatt-hours of power were
used for compression molding at 350°C with 45 kilonewtons of
press force for a cycle time of 20 minutes. This power consump-
tion could be further reduced by further optimizing process First Fiber Layup CF/PEKK Second Fiber Layup CF/PEKK
parameters.
The printed and compression-molded AFT hinges were then
mechanically tested by FHNW. The bottom horizontal plate of the
hinge was bolted to a fixed metal plate in a load cell and vertical (c) TO resulted in first layup (left), further optimized via added local reinforce-
force was then applied to a hinge pin installed in the main bearing ment in a second layup (right).
hole of the vertical plate. Each hinge was tested to failure.

Optimized part comparison

The characteristics and performance of the optimized AFT hinges
are compared with the benchmark and the black metal design
in Fig 4 (p. 14). The second fiber layup design weighed only 27.5
grams, 75% lighter than the steel benchmark, while the maximum
static load capability was increased more than 200% from 3.0 to 6.9
kilonewtons. (d) Use of multiple printed
Cost was also evaluated for the first and second fiber layup subparts enabled optimized fiber
designs — calculated using Fibrify’s Production Evaluation tool placement in all directions.
— and found to be half that of the steel benchmark. Each of the
FIG. 3 Steps to an optimized structure
designs was imported and then parameters were added — e.g.,
materials used, print temperature, how many parts produced for 9T Labs first developed a non-optimized black metal design (a). Topology
optimization (b) resulted in a first fiber layup (c) which was then improved in a
machine amortization, etc. — resulting in a cost estimate and
second fiber layup (c) by adding local reinforcement at the vertical and horizontal
breakdown by cost component (materials, process) and subpart. plate junction. The final optimization (d) split the hinge into four printed subparts
Further optimization was investigated in a subsequent study subsequently fused in the 9T Labs Fusion Module.

CompositesWorld.com 13
 PREDICTING FAILURE

FIG. 4 Optimized AFT part

The optimized AFT-printed composite parts showed increased failure load and reduced weight com-
pared to the steel benchmark and 3D-fabricated black metal designs.

6 +45%
+130% +65%
5

kN 4

3 +200%

Steel Laminated Black Metal First Fiber Layup Second Fiber Layup
CF/PEEK CF/PEKK CF/PEKK

Mass Dimensions Max Load

Cost**
(g) (mm) (kN)
Steel benchmark 135 112 × 42 × 22.5 3.0 €70
Laminated chopped CF/
21* 112 × 42 × 22.5 4.2 -
PEEK tapes
3D printed: black metal 20* 112 × 42 × 22.5 1.6 -
First layup
25* 112 × 42 × 30 4.8 €35
topology optimized
Second layup
27.5* 112 × 42 × 30 6.9 €35
additional local fiber
* Metal bushing insert for hinge pin adds 4.2 grams.
** Relative cost at 1,000 parts/year.

and published in the December  paper, “Experimental and numerical analysis
of the consolidation process for additive manufactured continuous carbon fiber-
reinforced polyamide  composites.” A design of the hinge was again printed and
consolidated using CF/polyamide  (PA) materials, this time to demonstrate a
simulation model for the consolidation/forming process in the Red Series Fusion
Module. This model predicts the process-induced deformations of the consolidated
part including the effects of temperature, crystallization and porosity. It can predict
a final part’s composition, residual stresses and porosity with high accuracy as well
as the trend for warpage. It also enables rapid simulation of the Fusion Module
process, reduces the number of prototyping iterations and achieves an important
step toward “first time right” composite production.
T Labs continues to advance design and process optimization as it expands
the use of AFT to series produce larger and more complex parts and increases the
replacement of metal parts with stronger and more affordable composites.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yannick Willemin heads marketing and business development at 9T Labs. He holds a

dual Executive MBA from the EBS Universität in Wiesbaden, Germany, and the Durham
University Business School in the U.K., with an entrepreneurship and blockchain focus.
During eight years at SGL Carbon (Wiesbaden, Germany), he gained experience
through positions in development, sales, purchasing and innovation strategy. He is
passionate about improving lives via engineering technology innovation with a focus on composites.

14 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

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 COMPOSITES: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Composites
opportunities
in eVTOLs
» Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)
aircraft do not represent the first opportunity
for composites to be applied in the mobility
industry. The success of composites in the aero-
space, automotive and marine end markets is no
secret. But what makes the eVTOL industry as
good as gold for the composites industry is the
degree of penetration.
For instance, the Boeing , which acted as a
torchbearer for the use of composites in aircraft, Source | Getty Images
has ~% of its structure made from composite
materials. For the automotive industry, the
numbers are significantly lower, with composite materials applications like beams, seating structures, etc., accounting for
accounting for -% of the vehicle’s weight in light vehicles. another -%. Battery systems, avionics and other small applica-
However, for eVTOLs, that same figure shoots up to an average of tions will, combined, account for the remaining -%.
~% of the material mix, regardless of the maker. More than % of the composites used in eVTOLs will be carbon
Since most eVTOLs will be battery-powered, lightweighting is fiber. About % of composites will use fiberglass reinforcement in
necessary in more than one way — i.e., making lighter compo- the form of protective films.
nents and also choosing designs that require fewer components.
On top of that, eVTOLs impose strict structural requirements. Aerospace quality at semi-automotive volumes
Because of this, composites are an obvious solution for eVTOL The choice of material and the fabrication process for any
manufacturers. composite part usually depends on factors like performance
From primary exterior structures like wings and fuselages to requirements, part size, complexity and production volume. In
small secondary components like clips and brackets, compos- the case of eVTOLs however, there’s one additional parameter for
ites will find applications in every cubic meter of an eVTOL. The choosing the material: ease of certification.
image below highlights some major applications of composites in The top priority for OEMs is to get their aircraft certified as
this aircraft type. quickly as possible, and they are doing this by picking tried-and-
According to Stratview Research, around -% of the tested materials instead of focusing on innovation. Since ther-
composite materials used in any eVTOL program will find use in mosets have, until now, been the most used resin type in the
structural components and the propulsion system, with interior aerospace industry, and because regulatory authorities are most

Major applications of composites in

eVTOLs. Source (all images) | Stratview Research

Exterior
Interior

16 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 Composites demand in eVTOL aircraft

Composite Material Demand & eVTOL Production Volumes: OEM Partner Product/Service
2024-2030
30,000 12,500
Joby Toray Composite materials
Composite Material Demand ('000 lbs) Toyota Manufacturing and sharing of
No. of eVTOL Units Produced (Right Axis)
expertise
10,000
Lilium Toray Composite materials
20,000
Aciturri Wings, fuselage and other
7,400 structures

(eVTOL units)
('000 lbs)

Diehl Aviation Cabin interiors

5,000 Archer Stellantis Manufacturing
10,000
Hexcel Composite materials
2,500
FACC Fuselage and wings
Vertical Solvay Composite materials
0 0 Aerospace
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Leonardo Composite fuselage
Composite material demand and eVTOL production volumes: 2024-2030.
GKN Aerospace EWIS and wings
Overair Toray Composite materials
familiar with thermoset matrices, more than % of eVTOL OEMs Airbus KLK Motorsport Rear fuselage
are entering into certification with thermoset-rich platforms. and Modell- und
Thermoplastic resin systems, on the other hand, are only being Formenbau Blasius
Gerg GmbH
used in smaller parts of first-generation eVTOLs. However, as
production volumes increase to a few thousand aircraft per year, Eve Air Mobility Thales Feasibility study, avionics,
electric, flight control,
a transition toward thermoplastic-intensive structures becomes navigation, communication
inevitable, and applications can grow beyond small parts. That and connectivity systems
said, this shift is expected to be gradual and will likely comprise
<% of total composite material use in eVTOLs until . Table 1 Some key manufacturing and supply partnerships in the eVTOL industry.
Among the OEMs that have managed to make headlines, Jaunt
Air Mobility (Dallas, Texas, U.S.) is the only one working on a ther- some key players from the automotive value chain. Joby Avia-
moplastic-rich model and has a vision of making an aircraft that’s tion’s partnership with Toyota and Archer’s partnership with Stel-
% recyclable. Another OEM making significant use of thermo- lantis are two such examples.
plastics is Vertical Aerospace (Bristol, U.K.). Components like rotor
blades, battery enclosures, interiors and brackets used in Vertical’s Opportunities a few thousand feet up
VX aircraft have all been made by using thermoplastic prepregs. Since eVTOL OEMs plan to scale up production quickly, conse-
Though the adaption of thermoplastics will be a bit slow, one quent demand for composite materials will follow a similar
can say that key composite material suppliers like Hexcel, Toray, trajectory. According to a recent report by Stratview Research, the
Solvay and Teijin are already ahead of the demand for composite materials from
curve in terms of material offerings for the the eVTOL industry is expected to grow
advanced air mobility (AAM) market. In As production volumes ~20 times over a span of six years —
spite of the current supremacy of thermo- increase, a transition toward from around 1.1 million pounds in 2024
sets in the industry, the AAM material to 25.9 million pounds in 2030.
thermoplastic structures
offerings by all of the above-mentioned In , the demand for composite
suppliers include a wide range of
becomes inevitable. materials from the eVTOL industry is esti-
thermoplastics, with applications mated to reach $ million, from just $.
stretching from smaller secondary million in . A fair share of this opportu-
components like rotor blades and brackets to primary structures nity has already been captured by Toray (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.)
like wings and fuselages. since it has already partnered with Joby Aviation (Santa Cruz,
Also, since eVTOL production volumes will be semi-automo- Calif., U.S.) and Lilium (Wessling, Germany), two of the leading
tive — volumes greater than aerospace, but far less than automo- players that are also ahead of others in the certification race.
tive (i.e., an annual production volume of ,-,+ aircraft) Hexcel (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) and Solvay (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.)
— and since eVTOLs will provide intracity travel, they will be are also among the early entrants and have signed contracts with
invading the automotive market more than the aerospace market. Archer Aviation (San Jose, Calif., U.S.) and Vertical Aerospace
Because of this, the eVTOL industry has a fair involvement of respectively.

CompositesWorld.com 17
 COMPOSITES: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
The eVTOL industry will not only create opportunities for the
composites industry, but for several other players across the
value chain. Listed in Table  on p.  are some key manufac-
turing and supply partnerships in the eVTOL industry.
The eVTOL industry is not expected to face — at least not
initially — any production capacity limits. Many experts
told Stratview Research that initial eVTOL program produc-
tion volumes of <, aircraft annually can be achieved effi-
ciently with the existing technology and capacity. However,
18 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
as production scales up and program volumes approach ,
aircraft annually, it will be difficult to meet volume requirements
without the integration of automation.
One consequence could be raw materials — specifically, carbon
fiber — supply constraint. AAM represents a new, high-growth,
high-volume vertical market that depends greatly on composite
materials to meet basic and critical vehicle weight targets. Couple
this with existing and new applications of composites in commer-
cial aerospace and automotive programs and it’s not difficult to
recognize the potential for supply tight-
ening during the initial years of commer-
cialization of eVTOLs.
How clear is the sky ahead? The oppor-
tunity in the eVTOL industry is significant
and real, but the “revolution” is facing
some headwinds: Certification, manufac-
turing bandwidth, pilot supply shortage,
availability of AAM infrastructure and
customer acceptance. This last challenge
— customer acceptance — is a significant
one. The safer and more comfortable an
individual feels while flying in an eVTOL,
the quicker will be the adoption.
The prospect of safe, affordable, conve-
nient, inter- and intracity air mobility is
not far off and likely will be a very attrac-
tive option for travelers looking to escape
ground traffic. That said, market excite-
ment and anticipation are nothing if
expectations are not met. The next few
years will be the most crucial for AAM’s
stakeholders, given how close they are to
delivering on what they’ve been prom-
ising. The world could witness a new
era of mobility in the next few years and
let’s hope that eVTOLs will turn out to be
worth more than the excitement.
For additional questions or to download
the full report, please contact the author.
Aniket Roy is a business analyst
at Stratview Research (Detroit,
Mich., U.S.), a business consulting
firm serving different industry
verticals globally, with proven
expertise in the composites and mobility domains.
He has a knack for numbers and strongly believes
that business decisions should always be data-
driven and not intuitive. As an analyst, he always
strives to simplify the decision-making process for
the stakeholders he is involved with, and “quality
has no substitute” is his motto at work.
aniket@stratviewresearch.com
 Significant Cost Savings
on Additive Tool
Partnership between Thermwood and General Atomics

The Details
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 GARDNER BUSINESS INDEX: COMPOSITES FABRICATING

Demand components lead to

composites GBI contraction
December — 48.9 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan Schafer, MBA, is

»The GBI: Composites Fabricating was down three points in December, closing the month out at the director of market
research for Gardner
48.9. This contracting activity, or slowed growth, follows a more positive reading of 51.9 reported Intelligence, a division of
in November. According to Gardner Intelligence, the last time Index activity contracted below Gardner Business Media
“50” was August 2020, though October 2022 activity came close. (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.). She has been an
essential part of Gardner Intelligence for over
Unlike many of the other manufacturing segments, the composites Index has been holding out five years, and has led research and analysis
on contracting activity for some time, continuing to expand while others have contracted. Three in various industries for over 30 years.
components representing demand — specifically, backlog, exports and new orders — contracted jschafer@gardnerweb.com
at faster rates in December compared to previous months. Production activity, on the other hand,
expanded, which poses a bit of a puzzle since production is related to demand components. Simi-
larly, employment activity continued to expand despite known workforce challenges and reces-
sion fears. Supplier deliveries continued on its slower expansion journey to a more “normal” state
following highs inflated by supply chain issues.

GBI: Composites Fabricating All good things... (must

come to an end)
GBI: Composites Fabricating activity
contracted for the first time in two years in
December. Source (all images) | Gardner Intelligence

GBI: Composites Fabricating — New Orders, Backlog and Exports Slowed demand
(three-month moving average) New orders, backlog and export activity
contracted at faster rates in December
New Orders (3-MMA) Backlog (3-MMA) Exports (3-MMA) compared to previous months.

PRESENTED BY

Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence.

Visit the blog at gardnerintelligence.com or email jschafer@gardnerweb.com

20 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld


• Demonstrated impact and
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• Flexible cure profiles
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• In stock and ready
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Our prepreg materials are designed to meet primary structure
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Material solutions for today and tomorrow.
 TRENDS
CW launches 2023 Top Shops; Bizente project partners look to biodegradation
technologies to recover thermoset materials; critical digital tools and services
accelerate composite racing yacht construction; Velocity Composites expands
into international markets with a new GKN agreement; and more.
CW launches 2023 Top Shops
benchmarking survey
CompositesWorld, in cooperation with parent company
Gardner Business Media (GBM, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), a
leading media company for manufacturing, and Gardner
Intelligence, is kicking off 2023 by launching its annual CW
Top Shops survey, a benchmarking and recognition program
designed to help composites fabricators understand,
measure and assess how their business compares to other
fabricators. The program is the only source of benchmarking
data collected via online surveys to cover four main business
pillars including operations, technology, business strategy
and human resources.
Any composites fabricator, regardless of size, industries
served or location, is qualified and encouraged to partici-
pate. The survey, which opened on Jan. 1, 2023, can be
completed by qualified, interested parties until April 30.
Three of GBM’s brands are participating this year in
addition to CW, including Modern Machine Shop, Products
Finishing (with two versions, Plating and Anodizing; and
Liquid, Powder and Electrocoating) and Plastics Technology.
How does Top Shops work? How could it benefit your
company? Learn more about the program below:
What data does the survey collect?
The in-depth survey measures a variety of manufactur-
ing metrics for the facility reported, including scrap rate,
order lead time, capacity utilization, on-time delivery rate,
product quality, capital spending, customer retention,
sales per employee, sales growth, profit margin, inven-
tory, machine uptime, wages, labor turnover, supply chain
practices, marketing practices, certifications and more. The
survey also asks, among other things, profile questions such
as industries served, as well as materials, processes, tooling
types and inspection technology used.
What does a company receive from its participation in
Top Shops?
Each facility that sufficiently participates (i.e., compre-
hensively completes the survey) will receive a custom-
ized report showing how their responses compare to
other participating facilities, showing where they stand on
multiple measures compared to the overall CW Top Shops
benchmarking group and other facilities. This will help
22 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
respondents assess strengths and weaknesses and deter-
mine where improvements could be made.
How are Top Shops determined?
Select questions are scored and summed to determine
which are designated Top Shops. Top Shops typically repre-
sent the top 20% of scores.
What are the benefits of completing the benchmarking
survey?
Participants receive:
•A custom benchmarking report: Using the report, a
facility can assess the effectiveness and efficiency of its
manufacturing operations, identify optimal manufactur-
ing practices and gain insight to apply in its strategic
planning processes.
•Top Shops status: One of the most coveted and promi-
nent accolades in the industry today, being a Top Shop
recognizes those that perform the best and have busi-
ness practices to be emulated.
•Consideration to be selected to receive special recogni-
tion: Up to four Top Shops will be selected to be honored
for survey responses that set them apart.
•Industry recognition in CompositesWorld: CW editors
celebrate its Top Shops honorees with prominent cover-
age in a designated print issue, online and in its e-news-
letters, reaching thousands of composites fabricators
every day. We spread the word, far and wide, to share the
successes of our honorees with the whole community!
“Top Shops recognizes the staying power of that all-
important ‘relative performance’ aspect of human nature,
offering a one-of-a-kind solution that delivers it for manu-
facturing,” Jan Schafer, director of market research for
Gardner Intelligence, says. “We hear at industry events,
association meetings and shop visits that Top Shops data
make for a key tool that is regularly considered in the devel-
opment of shop strategies and action plans. An inherent
bonus is that any shop participating in Top Shops may be
designated a Top Shop or selected for special recognition.
That is because questions are designed to create a level
playing field so any shop can stand out on performance.”
Take the survey here: survey.compositesworld.com/topshops
 Thermoset recovery project

European R&D project Bizente researches enzymatic

technologies to recover thermosets
The EU project Bizente, coordinated by Aitiip Technology Centre (Zaragoza,
Spain) and backed by almost €3 million in financing by the European
Commission, continues to develop a biodegradation technology using
enzymes that will, it is hoped, expand the recyclability of thermoset
composites. The research,
which has just completed 30
months, and in which a dozen
European partners are collabo-
rating, will make it possible
to recover resins and other
products at their end of life
(EOL) with the aim of making
them reusable and re-intro-
ducing them into the market.
Specifically, Bizente comes
as an advanced, innovative and
sustainable bioengineering
Source | Bizente solution that will help reduce
the emission of non-biodegrad-
SMOOTH YOUR
able thermoset composite materials released into the environment by 40%, EXTERIOR
avoiding their storage in landfills or incineration. Aviation, construction or
wind energy industries may benefit from the Bizente model. WITH EASE
A recent study, led by the aviation consultancy Naveo (London, U.K.),
predicted that aircraft decommissioning will increase in the coming years.
In just one decade, it is estimated that at least 12,000 cargo or passenger
aircraft will be scrapped, producing 430,000 tonnes of composite waste.
SIKA ADVANCED
This figure does not yet include other types of aircraft, such as those used RESINS FILLING
in the military. This horizon confirms to industry and society the need to
optimize and develop new processes and technologies, not only for reusing & FAIRING
and recycling, but also to adopt a more global approach, starting with the
design of the aircraft itself through more sustainable materials and manu- COMPOUNDS
facturing processes that seek to provide a solution to the aircraft’s EOL.
The Bizente model was presented at Composiforum 2022 in November,
PROVIDE AN
an international forum for industry and research for present and future EXCELLENT
composite materials. Here, industry experts analyzed the growing circular
trends in relation to these materials, and explained multiple applications FINISH
that projects such as Bizente are currently promoting.
Bizente’s technology aims to achieve a controlled biodegradation of
thermoset composite materials through the use of enzymes. According to
consortia members, these will be pre-engineered through directed evolu-
TOOLING & COMPOSITE
tion to adapt them to the degradation process. The reactions will be scaled SOLUTIONS FROM
up inside industrial chemical reactors. After this process, the resin mono- DESIGN TO PRODUCTION
mers will be recovered, the byproducts of the degradation process will be
studied and their revalorization developed.
WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
In the early stages of the project, partner EvoEnzyme (Madrid, Spain)
800-688-7452
successfully developed new enzyme technologies with the initial engineer-
ing of oxidoreductases and hydrolytic enzymes. With the guidance of struc-
tural analysis by partner Specific Polymers (Castries, France), the targeted
evolution of selected biocatalysts is being followed and several variants
have already been transferred to Biosphere for scale-up production. The
bioengineering project is currently focusing on parallel pathways for the
different types of materials, from which the most promising route for resin
conversion will be selected.

CompositesWorld.com 23
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 TRENDS
MARINE
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli adopts Siemens Xcelerator
portfolio for America’s Cup composite yacht
Siemens Digital Industries Software (Waltham, Mass., U.S.)
has announced that the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli America’s
Cup team is using the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of
software and services to design, simulate and optimize
its racing yacht for the upcoming 37th America’s Cup
challenge.
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24 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
Source | Luna Rossa
Prada Pirelli
Manufactured with carbon fiber composites, the manu-
facturing process for the racing yacht prototype required
nearly 10 months and more than 30,000 work hours of over
25 people and 40 members of the design team. For the
construction of the hull and composite components, 5,000
square meters of carbon fiber were used in the different
materials that make up the structural
core. The prototype was conceived,
designed and built at the Luna Rossa
Prada Pirelli base.
The hull, foils, rudder and sails
were designed and analyzed virtually
using Simcenter STAR CCM+ software
to understand how sails, hull and
the complex hydrodynamics of the
hydrofoil respond to the changes in
the project parameters. Simcenter
Amesim software was used to simu-
late all on-board hydraulic lines and
optimize performance, an essential
aspect given that on-board hydraulic
power for the aerial parts of the boat
is generated by four team members
called cyclors using pedal power.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is also
taking advantage of Xcelerator
Share, the cloud-based collabora-
tion capability in Siemens Xcelerator
as a Service, to effectively manage
increased design complexity, improve
manufacturing repeatability across
the growing number of parts under-
going thousands of engineering
changes per year, in and out of racing
season. Moreover, Siemens Xcelerator
as a Service enables a high degree
of automation, so the team can fully
leverage the power of modern high-
performance computing (HPC) clus-
ters, running thousands of simulations
per day to quickly explore the char-
acteristics of new designs in different
environmental conditions.
“The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team’s
selection of Siemens Xcelerator as a
Service is another proof point that
organizations at the bleeding edge
of innovation are using our solutions
to bring their ideas to life and find
new areas for true innovation,” Franco
Megali, vice president and CEO Italy,
Israel and Greece, Siemens Digital
Industries Software, says.
 Velocity Composites market expansion
NEWS

AEROSPACE

Velocity Composites enters U.S. market with

$100 million GKN Aerospace agreement
Aerospace composite material kits supplier Velocity Composites (Burnley,
U.K.) has announced its entry into the U.S. market — reported to be the
largest aerospace manufacturing market in the world — with the signing of
an agreement with GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.) expected to be worth
more than $100 million over
five years.
To support the expansion
into international markets,
Velocity Composites also
announces the development
of its first site outside of the
U.K., a 40,000-square-foot
advanced manufacturing
facility near GKN’s facility
in Alabama. The new facil-
ity will build and supply all
the composite material kits
for GKN’s aerostructures. It

Source | Velocity Composites

has been upgraded to the
required cleanroom stan-
ASSEMBLE
dard and includes Velocity’s
proprietary digital technology and latest manufacturing systems, covering
WITH
a diverse range of high-performance composite structures across military, STRENGTH
civil and business jet programs.
Work on the facility is at an advanced stage and it is expected that site
approvals and first article tests will be completed by the end of February
2023, followed by volume production in Q1 2023, with all programs trans-
SIKA
ferred to Velocity under the agreement by Q3 2023. Velocity plans to train
and employ up to 30 local staff, supported initially by existing staff from
STRUCTRUAL
the U.K. SEALANTS &
The collaboration with GKN — a global company known for its use of
composite materials in engineered aerospace structures — uses Velocity’s ADHESIVES
advanced VRP technology and supply chain services to support GKN’s
sustainability and efficiency objectives, assisting the aerospace industry’s
PROVIDE
push to achieving significant environmental and sustainability improve-
ments in this decade.
STRONGER
“This is a major milestone for Velocity as we make a permanent entry into BONDS AND
the U.S. market and expand our long-standing relationship with GKN,” Andy
Beaden, chairman of Velocity Composites, says. “During the pandemic, we SEALS
worked hard to deepen our relationships with clients and further invest in
our technology to prepare for the recovery.” TOOLING & COMPOSITE
Beaden believes this agreement will be part of a positive long-term trend SOLUTIONS FROM
from which Velocity will benefit, as customers look to recover from the DESIGN TO PRODUCTION
pandemic and achieve new and improved ways of working, with a key focus
on sustainability, as production rates increase to pre-pandemic levels. “We
expect a step change in the use of carbon fiber in aircraft structures to WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
800-688-7452
improve fuel efficiency and deliver greater sustainability in the move to net
zero,” he continues. “We believe this will increase the adoption of Velocity’s
technology and services to improve manufacturing efficiencies and inven-
tory supply lead times.”
The agreement builds on Velocity’s long-standing relationship with GKN
Aerospace which started in 2015 and includes existing contracts at three of
GKN Aerospace’s U.K. sites, including Bristol, Luton and the Isle of Wight.
This is the first time that Velocity has worked with GKN outside of the U.K.

CompositesWorld.com 25
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 TRENDS

NCC announces life cycle assessment software results for construction

The National Composites Centre (NCC, Bristol, U.K.) has carbon footprint, the value from LCA tool 1 would indicate a
completed an assessment of the composites data refer- lower carbon footprint and the value from LCA tool 2 would
enced in software tools for life cycle assessments (LCA) indicate a higher carbon footprint. The NCC performed a
used within the construction sector. quality assessment to determine applicabil-
As the market looks to capitalize LCA Assessment of GFRP Composite ity of data values, and in this case found
on the decarbonization benefits that that the LCA tool 1 value to be more valid.
10.0
composite materials might bring to “It is crucial for users of LCA software to
projects, there is an increasing need to understand the background data refer-

Global Warming Potential,kg C02

8.0
account appropriately for composite enced by these tools, in order for them to
materials in the assessment tools for have confidence in their decisions driven
6.0
carbon accounting. Software and other by the output of assessments, and to miti-

eq/kg
related tools for LCA range from specific
4.0
software with comprehensive life cycle
inventory databases, to solutions specific
to the construction sector or other appli- 2.0
cations that use composite materials.
In the study undertaken by the NCC, 0.0
LCA tool 1 LCA tool 2
it was found that the carbon footprint
Source | National Composites Centre
of a glass fiber composite output from
one LCA software tool could be almost double for the same
assessment used in another software tool. The result is that
when applied in a decision-making process in early design
stages, these diverse values can force a different outcome
depending on the software solution that is used.
For example, when comparing a glass fiber-reinforced
plastic (GFRP) composite component to galvanized steel
with a requirement to select the design with the lowest
gate business risk,” Ffion Martin, engineer-
ing capability lead for sustainability at the
NCC, says.
The NCC, together with the researchers
at the University of Bath (U.K.) through the
Innovation Centre for Applied Sustainable
Technologies (ICAST), are establishing and
applying methods for data quality assess-
ment and presentation of uncertainty as part of the ICAST
Core Research Programme that focuses on using sustainable
materials engineering to inform design and product develop-
ment for decarbonization. The ICAST project will continue
the LCA assessment work undertaken by NCC and further
develop LCA data for construction and infrastructure (C&I),
with a focus on biomaterials and other sustainable advanced
material options (e.g., glass, basalt fibers).

26 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 Cryomotive Cryogas hydrogen tanks
NEWS

Cryomotive opens Hydrogen Storage

Manufacturing Center
German hydrogen mobility startup Cryomotive (Taufkirchen) has inaugu-
rated its hydrogen storage and refueling technology manufacturing center
in Pfeffenhausen, Lower Bavaria, based near the Hydrogen Innovation
and Technology Center South (ITZ Sued) planned by the German Federal
Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). At this facility, Cryomotive is
developing, manufacturing and assembling the first prototypes of Cryogas
pressure vessels for heavy-duty commercial vehicles and other mobility
applications with high-energy requirements.
Cryogas is a very high-density cryogenic compressed gas that can
be produced from either liquid or gaseous hydrogen, which enables

Source | Cryomotive GmbH

Cryomotive’s Cryogas technology to be built on existing gaseous hydrogen

infrastructures, as well as use newly emerging liquid hydrogen infrastructure DESIGN TO
for commercial vehicles.
In addition to this announcement, the BMDV has provided Cryomotive PRODUCTION
a funding grant for its CryoTRUCK project, in which Cryomotive, together
with Germany-based consortium partners MAN Truck & Bus, Clean Logistics,
IABG and three chairs of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), are
developing and testing the first Cryogas hydrogen tank system for hydro-
gen trucks in long-distance transport. CryoTRUCK is funded as part of the
SIKA IS A
BMDV’s National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Program PROVIDER AND
(NIPII), awarding a total of €9.8 million.
“With alternative drives and fuels, we want to achieve zero-emission logis- DEVELOPER OF
tics on the road,” Dr. Volker Wissing, federal minister for digital and trans-
port, explains. “Around 90% of the CO2 emissions in the transport sector
HIGH QUALITY
refer to road traffic, with trucks accounting for a third. The development and
testing of hydrogen gas tanks and refueling systems for fuel cell trucks in
PERFORMING
long-haul transport are a valid and important step for more climate protec- RESIN SYSTEMS
tion in transport. I am excited to see the results of the consortium in terms
of refueling time and range.” & ADHESIVE
At the Hydrogen Storage Manufacturing Center, Cryomotive will develop,
manufacture and assemble Cryogas hydrogen tanks for commercial
SOLUTIONS
vehicles, buses and ships. In Pfeffenhausen, Cryomotive operates a wind-
ing machine and furnaces to manufacture carbon fiber-reinforced hydrogen
FOR TOOLING AND
pressure vessels suitable for cryogenic temperatures. This will be followed COMPOSITES
by assembly equipment for insulation, cabling and control applications, as
well as instrumentation for testing. Moreover, for the first time, Cryomotive
is combining in-house production of Type III pressure vessels for cryogenic
WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
hydrogen gas storage with the assembly of complete tank systems for 800-688-7452
commercial vehicle applications. The company also expects to use the facil-
ity to conduct validation testing. In the medium term, Cryomotive expects
the sites personnel requirements will grow from 10 to 25-30 engineers and
technicians.
Cryomotive’s Cryogas hydrogen refueling systems reportedly enable long-
haul trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells or hydrogen combustion engines
to achieve up to 1,000 kilometers of range per tank filling, with a refueling
time of 10-15 minutes.

CompositesWorld.com 27
Untitled-2.25 x 9.125 CW Specs.indd 6 9/7/2021 9:35:14 AM
 TRENDS

Episode 40: Sarah Cox, NASA

In episode 40 of CW Talks: The Composites Podcast, Jeff Sloan, editor-in-
chief of CompositesWorld sits down with Sarah Cox, materials engineer at
NASA. Sarah has worked for NASA for more than 18 years and has experience
applying advanced materials to space structures. Jeff talks to Sarah about
her education, how she came to NASA and how she helped guide composites
use there. This Q&A is excerpted from the CW Talks podcast and is edited for
clarity. To hear the entire interview, please visit www.compositesworld.com/podcast or
scan the QR Code at the end of this article.

JS: Can you tell us a little bit about the programs that
you’re working on that you’re most involved with right now?
SC: I mainly support the Commercial Crew Program and
we are working with SpaceX and Boeing on certifying their
spacecraft and launch vehicles in order for them to take
astronauts to the space station. Again, that was one of
the shuttle’s [2004-2011 space shuttle orbiter’s] main jobs
once [the] Space Station got built … taking astronauts up
there. So, when that ended, this commercial crew was the
follow-on to that. My role is to review and assess all of their
composite structures, making sure that they’re meeting their
requirements and that their vehicles are certified to fly.
JS: Let’s talk about the certification process. Can you just
walk me through what that looks like? You know, what is
your role? And what is the role of the manufacturer? You
mentioned Boeing and SpaceX? Obviously, you must
work with them and communicate with them. Tell us a
little bit about what that looks like.
SC: Like you said, SpaceX and Boeing are the two part-
ners in the Commercial Crew Program. We have to certify
their spacecraft on their launch vehicles. And, you know,
for SpaceX, that means we’re looking at the Crew Dragon
and the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. On the Boeing side,
they’re building the CST 100. And then they’ve actually
contracted out to ULA, to use the Atlas V launch vehicle …
My role is to do the review and the assessment of all of
those composite structures. And so where this starts is
that we have our NASA standards, and these provide the
requirements that have to be met for the program, part
of the original contract.
There are three main ones that I have to deal with
that have requirements relevant to composite structures.
One of those is the materials and processes standard,
which has requirements for every kind of material that
that you could use and addresses everything from
allowables to materials compatibility to requirements
for special processes like composites fabrication and
bonding and welding. The second one that I have to
look at is the structural requirements … you really have
to understand your ply layup, your fabrication process,

20
A N NIVE
RS

bagging, you know, what your cure cycle is, you have to
AR
Y

HPC
understand the design features and how that’s affect-
Charter
Advertiser
ing the loading going through the part. Then the third
one is the fracture control requirements, which deals
with how you are assessing defects and damage, how
you’re handling damage tolerance, looking at flaws and
flaw growth. Again, you know, these documents cover
materials across the board ... metallics and nonmetallics …
So, really what this comes down to is, it requires a lot of
testing. You start at that coupon level to get your basic
design values, but then you’re also going up to that next
level with making sure you’re accounting for the different
features, and for any defects that you need to account for
within your part.
JS: I can imagine, given the variability of composite
materials and processes, combined with the variability
of the structures that you’re working with each project,
[that] your work must be unique, and [I’m] wondering if
that’s true and what are the challenges associated with
this?

28 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 CW interview with Sara
NEWSCox

SC: I think one of the main challenges is just all the
options in the composite material systems for all the
possible combinations of different resin systems, differ-
ent carbon fiber systems, types of weave, so even just at
the basic raw material level, each of these variables can
change the properties of your material and of your final
component. So, it’s even beyond you having different
layups in different fabrication processes, but if there are
any changes within the material system itself, then that can
cause you to do more testing to ensure that you under-
stand how that change has affected your material and
your material properties. And working with these different
companies means having to know about different material
systems.
We’ve been going through this initial development and
certification phase. We have to kind of do a little bit of
our own research into these material systems, you know,
understanding what information is out there, and getting
additional information from the partners for that. And then
each of these partners has to do their own testing. And
so [we] then have to review all of that data. Being on the
application side of things with aerospace, and something
that is so critical, it is really important to understand your
material and to have all those controls in place so that
you’re getting a consistent product every time. And of
course, we want to see development of new technologies
and composites or resins that can handle higher tempera-
tures or material systems that are more damage tolerant
— we need to be making progress in those areas. But as
someone who is certifying or working towards the certifi-
cation of things, you want something that’s kind of estab-
lished at that time, just to make sure that you understand
your materials and your final product.
JS: Does that mean that your partners are only using
qualified materials? Or is it possible for them to introduce
an unqualified material into a program like this?
SC: Any material that they are going to use, there has to
be qualification of that data out there. So they can bring
something that maybe we haven’t, you know, whether I
personally may have not been familiar with in the past, but
it’s doing that research and under-
standing what that material is, and
understanding the vendor process
and how the partner is using that
material, and looking at getting help
from other experts across the agency
to see if somebody else has some
experience with that material.

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RCM FW&PrePreg 2021 175x111 EN.indd 1 27.04.21 07:13

CompositesWorld.com 29

Metal AM advances in composite
tooling, Part 2
Toolmakers and molders continue to realize the
benefits of additive versus conventional/subtractive
manufacturing of molds and mold components.
By Peggy Malnati / Contributing Writer
»As reported in the December 2022 issue of CW (see Learn
More), hard tooling is an important, potentially costly and often
rate-limiting step in the process of bringing composite parts to
market. However, advances in metal additive manufacturing (AM)
over the past 15 years have given toolmakers, molders and OEMs
many useful options for producing intricate mold components.
And, with the advent of large-format AM (LFAM) technologies, it is
now possible to print entire tools — albeit often single-sided only
with necessarily simpler geometry.
Metal AM tools or tool components can cut weeks or even
months off lead times without sacrificing accuracy or durability,
and they often do so at lower cost than similar components
produced via conventional manufacturing. Many processes also
30 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
Deformative manufacturing
Dieless robotic sheet forming is a fully digital process for
forming large sheets of metal rapidly into complex contours.
Robots fitted with various end effectors work on each side of
a suspended sheet of metal to incrementally cold-form the
alloy into shape one layer at a time. Source | Machina Labs Inc.
enable further functionality to be added to tooling or tool compo-
nents, such as the use of conformal heating or cooling channels,
which can shorten molding cycles and reduce part warpage.
In this report, we’ll continue our coverage of metal AM and
other digital technologies and, as before, indicate which additional
metal AM processes are production-proven — already used on
tools producing commercial parts, often in high volumes — and
which are close to or just beginning to be used on commercial
programs.
Production proven: Hybrid extrusion/CNC machining
Although just starting to ship commercial printers to initial
customers, the hybrid metal AM system designed specifically for
 Metal AM for tooling, Part 2
NEWS

Refining metal AM
Above is half of an as-printed and
sintered H13 insert with integral
conformal cooling channels used by
Hypertherm Associates to injection
mold glass fiber-reinforced PEEK
consumables used in a plasma cutter. To
the left is the complete insert (circled)
seated in the single-cavity injection
mold that, in turn, is mounted in an
injection press.
Source | Hypertherm Associates/Mantle Inc.

toolmakers by Mantle Inc. (San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) has already carrier, leaving a green body with the consistency of stiff foam.
been proven with key beta customers. These early adopters Next, a quick pass from the integral high-speed mill increases
are all toolmakers, some of whom also mold, and have put the the accuracy and flatness of each layer. Typically, every  layers,
technology through its paces for the past few years to verify that the part is also contour milled to improve surface finish and
printed and sintered mold components machine, EDM and weld refine features on the evolving part. Green body parts move from
just like conventional tool steels and are just as printers to Mantle’s furnace where they
durable. At least one beta customer has used undergo an integrated debinding and
two inserts produced on Mantle printers There are many printing sintering process to achieve final part
to injection mold more than 2.8 million density and geometry.
systems on the market
commercial parts for the personal care The company claims that its technology
industry.
— some print metals, experiences the lowest shrink rate (-%)
Mantle’s patented TrueShape polymers or composites. of any sinter-based metal AM process — as
process combines custom software much as an order of magnitude less than other
plus an extrusion-based printer, which systems. Parts exit the furnace with excel-
uses flowable metal pastes. It is also equipped with an integral lent hardness, greater than % density and are ready to use after
high-speed CNC mill, which shapes and refines part geometry minimal CNC machining to help seat components in the tool’s
throughout the printing process. An important benefit is that master unit die (MUD). And unlike laser-based systems, sintered
operators needn’t know how to program additive or subtractive parts are said to have very low internal stresses, which helps the
tool paths to use it. system hold very tight tolerances (±.-. millimeters across a
The system takes imported CAD models, slices the geometry -millimeter part) and produce very high surface finishes (Ra
into layers and automatically generates additive and subtrac- ~- microns).
tive tool paths in G-code, which the printer then uses to produce Currently, two paste formulations are available in widely used
a part. The extrudable pastes consist of metal particles of tool steels: H, which offers the same metallurgy and perfor-
different types and sizes in a thixotropic liquid carrier whose mance as H hardened steel, and PX, which provides the perfor-
viscosity can be tuned. The printer extrudes paste one layer at mance of P steel with slightly different metallurgy. The company
a time, followed by a short drying cycle to remove the liquid says its material form factor eliminates the handling and storage

CompositesWorld.com 31
 FEATURE
issue of bare powders, and the high printing pressures and
defects seen with filaments. Mantle’s pastes can also print thick-
section parts unlike ink-based systems. With a build volume of
 ×  ×  millimeters, the TrueShape process is said to be
ideal for producing small- to medium-size mold components.
A good example of the types of mold components produced
with Mantle’s system is a slide nose detail insert that industrial
SIDEBAR
Production-ready: (De)formative manufacturing
Another innovative method for rapidly producing
hard tooling (and other metal parts) is being
commercialized by Machina Labs Inc. (Los Angeles,
Calif., U.S.). Described as dieless robotic sheet forming,
the process traces its roots to 1970s-era incremental
sheet forming (ISF) — some forms of which used
dies and others that did not. Machina’s contributions
are in application of computational modeling and
simulations, machine learning/artificial intelligence
(ML/AI), sensor technologies and kinematic solutions
(industrial robot arms). The entire process runs off a
software stack and interfaces developed by Machina.
It transforms CAD files into robot tool paths and uses
sensors to interpret force and torque being applied
as well as optical scans measuring deformation to
incrementally manipulate sheet metal to form parts.
The process creates a digital twin as the part takes shape, and a digital
thread captures all relevant process characterization and part qualification
information. This digital record then travels with each piece produced for full
documentation.
The interesting thing about Machina’s process is that it borrows elements
from conventional and digital manufacturing and yet it is neither strictly
subtractive nor additive. Rather, it’s a formative (or deformative) process
suitable for producing tools for high-rate composite part manufacture. It
builds geometry layer by layer in a matter of hours and eliminates the
need for (and investment in) sequential stamping dies and presses or CNC
machining centers.
Functionally, metal parts are formed via contact pushing in much the
way potters form clay vessels and metalworkers shape sheet metal except
these sheets are huge — 3.7 × 1.5 meters, although larger sheet sizes can
be accommodated — and are hung from hydraulic clamping fixtures that
adjust for increased strain to prevent sagging. A robot on each side of the
sheet rolls one of a series of end effectors across the metal surface, applying
variable force (based on the geometry being created) over a very small area
at each point in time. This effectively cold forms (at room temperature) the
sheet metal, causing significant plastic deformation. By applying just the
right amount of force — e.g., 4,000 to 15,000 newtons depending on sheet
thickness and alloy properties — over an area as small as 16 square milli-
meters, the metal is incrementally shaped, layer by layer, and manipulated
into a complex-contoured 2.5-3D part. The company reports that draws as
deep as 1,000 millimeters have been achieved. Unlike progressive stamping,
which is bone-rattlingly noisy, dieless robotic sheet forming is said to be
virtually silent.
Once a part is formed, the same robots trim it, cut out holes and bend
32 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
cutting-systems supplier, Hypertherm Associates (Hanover, N.H.,
U.S.) used in a study to compare injection molded part quality
and wear for an insert produced conventionally versus one
printed using Mantle’s system. Inserts were then used to injec-
tion mold % fiberglass-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK)
cap shields, which form a consumable torch stack-up used in a
plasma cutter. H was specified for printed and conventionally
The flexibility of Machina’s
system enables it to produce
parts of three different sizes
and geometries in different
materials in the same cell. In
three days’ time, the system
formed, from left to right, two
0.9-millimeter-thick aerospace
parts in 304L stainless steel, a
2.0-millimeter-thick composite
layup mold in aluminum and
two 0.9-millimeter-thick domes
in 316L stainless steel (bottom
dome being formed in the
picture) for an aerospace tank
application. Source | Machina Labs Inc.
edges. Should interest prove sufficient, the company can automate edge
hemming. All end effectors and fixtures are produced by Machina Labs, which
also produces parts in its 2,788-square-meter facility or will set up and run a
custom manufacturing cell in a customer’s facility.
The company says the process offers greater design flexibility for creating
composite tooling than machining and it does so faster, at lower cost and
with less material waste and embodied energy. The company also says geom-
etries that normally cannot be stamped are possible, an expanded range of
materials and alloys can be used, the process is scalable from centimeters to
many meters, and both lightweighting and parts consolidation strategies can
be incorporated. The fully digital manufacturing platform was even designed
to accommodate other manufacturing processes (e.g., AM, joining, etc.),
permitting multiple operations to be carried out within the same robotic cell.
“We’re getting very good traction on the tooling side because our process
is such a good fit,” says Dr. Babak Raeisinia, Machina co-founder and head
of partnerships, who adds that most of the tools the team has built to date
have been for single-sided, out-of-autoclave (OOA) processes, although
thermoforming tools would be a logical next step and matched tools to mold
thermoplastics and/or sheet molding compound (SMC) are in the pipeline.
“The main driver for a process like ours is that it can take six months to
machine a really large tool, so the costs are very high,” he continues. “With
our process, we can produce a fairly large tool in a few hours. This makes
it much easier, faster and less costly to iterate designs with the same kind
of tooling you’ll use in production. OEMs no longer have to wait until their
design is locked to start cutting hard tooling, which can really help debottle-
neck the process of bringing products to market.” He adds that design
iterations require no hardware changes — only software.
The process is said to be robot and metal agnostic, as software drives the

produced inserts owing to that alloy’s high hardness (to resist
fiberglass abrasion) and resistance to temperature cycling (PEEK
is injected at °C into a tool kept at °C). The printed insert
was designed to incorporate integral cooling channels to improve
part quality and reduce cycle time.
Lead time to produce the printed insert was reduced -
weeks versus the conventionally produced insert, and costs were
A good example of the diversity
of parts that have already been
produced on Machina’s system
include two hemispheres that
are 508 millimeters in diameter
(top left) and were formed in
4.0-millimeter-thick 5000 series
aluminum. At top right, a series of
304L stainless steel parts, which
are 1,524 × 762 millimeters, were formed in four to five hours each. At middle
right is one of a series of 1.1-millimeter-thick Invar 36 parts, and at bottom right
are several hat stiffener sections for composite layup that were formed in a
2.0-millimeter-thick 5000 series aluminum alloy. Source | Machina Labs Inc.
entire system. As long as a metal can be flat rolled or formed into a sheet, it
can be used. To date, stainless and mild steels, aluminum, Invar and room-
temperature-forming Grade 5-equivalent titanium have been demonstrated.
Even magnesium might be possible in the future. Like any forming operation,
the process does leave residual stresses, benchmarked as being on par with
those generated during hydroforming; stresses can be annealed, if necessary.
Aerospace, defense and automotive are said to be very interested in the
technology for flight hardware/part production as well as tooling owing to the
process’ potential for lead time and cost reduction. Other industries evaluating
or already using parts produced on the system include marine, heavy
machinery, architecture and electrical/electronics.
As part of Machina Labs’ contract with the U.S. Air Force’s Wright Patterson
Air Force Base (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.) researchers at University of Dayton
Research Institute (UDRI, Dayton) have evaluated a 4.0-millimeter-thick
CompositesWorld.com
Metal AM for tooling,NEWS
Part 2
reduced by %. The printed insert required minimal grinding
and wire EDM work to adjust the taper prior to seating it in the
slide carrier. Hypertherm reports that molded part quality was the
same with both insert types and no observable wear was identi-
fied after  shots.
“Compared with traditional manufacturing, Mantle’s technology
is dramatically lower cost, it’s significantly faster and it enables
Three composite molds
(top) were formed in a
Machina robotic cell on a
1,524 × 3,048 × 4.0-milli-
meter sheet of aluminum.
Below this image (left)
is one of the finished
tools laid up and vacuum
bagged prior to being
placed in an autoclave.
Source | Machina Labs Inc. (top)
and University of Dayton Research
Institute (bottom)
aluminum autoclave tool shell formed on Machina’s system without a
backing structure. “The vacuum bag was sealed to the top of the tool such
that hydrostatic pressure was applied, then we processed the tool at 100
psi and 350°F [6.9 bar and 177°C] with suitable results,” reports Brian
Rice, UDRI distinguished engineer.
“Our long-term mission is to build robotic craftsmen,” explains Edward
Mehr, Machina co-founder and CEO. “The art of metalworking today
is under threat due to an aging population with insufficiently trained
apprentices backing them up. The beauty of relying on robotics is that
your supply chain is secured for generations to come and, in fact, it can
add value. For example, before we had factories, we had craftsmen. The
local blacksmith not only shod your horse but also made your sword and
shield and plow blade. They were agile manufacturers, although they were
limited in terms of throughput. Hundreds of years later, we have factories
that can produce a lot of the same kinds of parts, but if you want to make a
different part, you need another factory, or at least another production line.
We hope to offer the best of craftsmanship and high-rate production. You
no longer have to change your machines or manufacturing process, just
your design and software.”
33
 FEATURE

Hollow-section parts
This printed and sintered slide produced
in 8620 steel is an example of the type
of tooling component being produced on
AIM3D’s printers. No post-sinter machining
was required for the component.
Source | AIM3D GmbH

the unique geometries that only can be made by D printing,” print metals, some polymers, a few print composites and fewer
explains Ted Sorom, Mantle CEO and co-founder. “That combi- still can print multiple categories of materials. One of the latter
nation of factors is what our customers get really excited about. types was developed by AIM3D GmbH (Rostock, Germany),
The world is moving fast, technology is moving fast, but manufac- which has developed a novel extrusion-type printer that can print
turing hasn’t kept up with the pace of innovation. Mantle’s True- metals, plastics, composites and ceramics on the same printer
Shape changes that.” as long as those materials can be supplied in a pellet format and
converted into strands/filaments that fit through one of several
Production-ready: Composite extrusion different size nozzles. An open material system provides a broad
modeling (CEM) range of printable material options while keeping production
There are many different printing systems on the market. Some costs down, although AIM3D will also work with customers who
wish to use proprietary materials.
AIMD founders, then students
at the University of Rostock, initially
focused on developing a simpler and less
costly metal AM printer based on the
composite extrusion modeling (CEM)
process, which is similar to fused depo-

Composite Parts, sition modeling (FDM) and selective

laser melting (SLM). CEM was designed

Assemblies
to use metal injection molding (MIM)
pellets. After graduating and forming

Tooling
their company in , the founders
AND were asked by auto industry investors
to try printing glass-reinforced poly-
• Rapid Design and Build amide  (GR/PA), which led to devel-
opment of a series of print heads and
• One-Off or High Volume interchangeable nozzles using the fused
granular modeling/fabrication (FGM or
• Large, Complex Shapes FGF) process to print neat or reinforced
• High-Precision Machining plastic injection molding pellets. The
latest materials the team has printed are
• Non-Destructive Testing ceramics.

janicki.com | 360.856.5143
Because AIMD’s process can print
hollow-section parts, it can produce
metal inserts with conformal cooling (or
We’re Hiring Scan this QR code heating) channels. In fact, it’s said to be
Engineering and to view our current possible to print a part using multiple
Manufacturing Roles job openings! custom-formulated alloys, such as a
high-hardness grade in combination with

34 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld


another of the same base alloy but infused with copper to enhance
thermal conductivity without reducing the base metals’ sintering
temperature. It’s also possible to print parts using the same metal
but with different densities, modified by using pellets containing
different particle sizes and thermoplastic binders. This enables
material in one section of a part to sinter to a dense microstruc-
ture while material in another section sinters to a more porous
microstructure. Hence, AIMD’s system has an extra method for
enhancing part functionality in addition to design/geometry and
material selection.
Parts in metal or ceramic require thermal or chemical
debinding and sintering after printing. AIMD does not offer its
own furnace but connects customers to a network of compa-
nies offering this service. (Metal and ceramic green bodies are
said to be relatively tough and can withstand shipping.) Metal
shrinkage during sintering is isotropic, occurs at the same rate
as for comparable MIM parts and is easily accounted for with
simple geometric scaling. Post-sinter porosity is ~.%. Most
steels are hard-phase sintered and achieve densities up to %,
while densities for liquid-phase sintered materials like tungsten
can be as high as .%. Surface finishes are said to be similar
to those achieved via the direct metal laser sintering/solidifi-
cation (DMLS) process mentioned in Part  of this article (CW
December  issue). Reportedly, post-sintered metal parts
machine, EDM and weld just like MIM parts and have compa-
rable mechanical properties. Because metal powders are fully
French Oil Mill Machinery Co. | Piqua, Ohio | www.frenchoil.com
CompositesWorld.com
Metal AM for tooling, Part 2
NEWS
encapsulated in a thermoplastic binder, the printer does not
require cleanroom conditions, inert-gas blanketing or vacuum
pressure. All that is needed is power and compressed air.
Since a strand of flowable material is produced just prior
to printing, scaffolds are needed to keep overhang/undercut
geometry from slumping and, depending on geometry, support
structures may also be needed during sintering. Rather than
requiring a metal build plate, printing is done on a polymer sheet,
which is simply peeled off the bottom of the completed part.
The current build envelope for the company’s ExAM series
printers is  ×  ×  millimeters on AIMD’s smaller printer
and  ×  ×  millimeters on its newest printer. Owing to
the high extrusion pressures used, the print head can move quite
rapidly, laying material down at  millimeters/second (or 
cubic centimeters/hour from a .-millimeter nozzle) versus
~ millimeters/second for comparable filament or stick-based
systems.
The team is said to be working on larger pellet printers to
increase build envelope and build rates. Part costs also are said to
be correspondingly lower, on the order of three to four times less
than filament/stick printers and half the cost of DMLS printers
without that process’ high residual stresses. Materials can be
printed at temperatures ranging from room temperature to °C,
depending on which type of material is used and which model
printer is selected.
The company says the process can hold tolerances as tight as
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35
 FEATURE

±. millimeter. The smallest nozzle AIMD offers for metal granular material up to  millimeters in diameter,” says Clemens
printing is . millimeter in diameter, so the company says its Lieberwirth, AIMD CTO. “These cost-effective and easily avail-
comfort zone is printing geometry no finer than - millimeters, able pellets offer the freedom to print anything from tool steels to
although they also say it’s possible to build single-wall struc- non-ferrous metals to plastics, composites and ceramics without
tures as thin as . millimeter having to purchase costly filaments or handle fine powders. This
— useful for thin fins on turbine greatly reduces material costs as well as machining or molding
Read this article online | parts but potentially less useful time and costs. It also means customers can print prototypes in
short.compositesworld.com/ for mold components subject the same material as production parts without needing to adapt
metaladditivept2 to high clamping and injection production steps.”
Read Part 1 of this article | pressures. Finer geometry can While metal AM is a fairly young technology — and its use to
short.compositesworld.com/
always be EDM’d after sintering. produce tooling or tool components is even younger — metal
metaladditivept1
AIMD reports that its printing technologies continue to evolve, and those that are
printers are being used to already commercial continue to improve. As these three tech-
produce metal parts in the nologies — along with those covered in Part  of this series —
automotive industry, although demonstrate, metal AM has much to offer toolmakers, proces-
several other industries are sors and OEMs trying to bring composite products to market
interested, including aero- faster, at lower cost and with a smaller manufacturing carbon
space and MIM itself. Several footprint.
materials suppliers use ExAM
printers in their labs to develop
new materials for D printing. Tool production is a newer use for
the technology and AIMD is working with several companies
under non-disclosure agreements to develop metal AM mold Peggy Malnati covers the automotive and infrastructure beats
components. for CW and provides communication services for plastics and
composites industry clients. She also writers for CW sister
“Our patent-pending, wear-resistant extruder and simple publications, MoldMaking Technology and Products Finishing
printing process are designed to handle nearly any type of magazines. peggy@compositesworld.com

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36 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
 Attend the leading event in the world
dedicated to composite materials, technologies
and production processes, and their applications sectors.
 FIG. 1 AEC operations
Albany Engineered Composites jointly operates, with Safran,
three facilities to manufacture fan blades, fan cases and spacers
for CFM International’s LEAP aircraft engine. The blades shown
here, freshly fabricated via resin transfer molding (RTM), are in
Albany’s Rochester, N.H., U.S. plant, the company’s largest for
case and blade production. Other Albany/Safran plants are in
France and Mexico. Source (all images) Albany Engineered Composites

Plant tour: Albany Engineered

Composites, Rochester, N.H., U.S.

Efficient, high-quality, » Given all the talk about the challenges associated with meeting high-volume

well-controlled compos- manufacturing requirements in next-generation composite aerostructures, it’s

easy to forget that there already are aerocomposite programs that demand a
ites manufacturing at robust level of automation, industrialization and quality.
volume is the mantra for Such is the case at Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) in Rochester,
N.H., U.S., where the company has been fabricating, since , carbon fiber
this 3D weaving specialist. composite fan cases, fan blades (Fig. ) and spacers for all variants of the LEAP
aircraft engine, manufactured by CFM International (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.),
By Jeff Sloan / Editor-in-Chief a joint venture of General Electric (Cincinnati) and Safran Aircraft Engines
(Courcouronnes, France). AEC is the sole source manufacturer of the fan cases,
fan blades and fan blade spacers.
Co-developed and designed for the single-aisle aircraft market, the LEAP
engine is targeted toward aircraft manufactured by Airbus, Boeing and Comac,
and has become the de facto standard for narrowbody aircraft propulsion. The
LEAP-A variant, offering ,-, pounds of thrust, is one of two engine
options available for the Airbus Aneo Family (the Pratt & Whitney GTF

38 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld


engine is the other). LEAP-B (,-, pounds) is the sole
engine option for the Boeing  MAX aircraft. LEAP-C (,-
, pounds) is the sole engine option for the Comac C. Each
LEAP engine features  carbon fiber composite fan blades (Fig. )
rotating inside a carbon fiber composite fan case.
Safran, at its December  Capital Markets Day, said the LEAP
engine (all variants) has a % share of the global narrowbody
market and a % market share on the Aneo Family. Further,
Safran reported an order backlog of , LEAP engines, which
represents a staggering , fan blades, making this engine
platform the largest composite fan blade consumer in the world.
Compounding the challenge of manufacturing volume is that of
quality. A fan blade is vitally important and is the primary struc-
ture to an aircraft engine’s operation for obvious reasons; as such,
blade failure — particularly a blade-out condition — must be
exceptional and rare. This combination of manufacturing volume
and quality is rare in the aerocomposites industry, but it is also a
bellwether of what’s to come.
When CW first visited AEC in Rochester in  (see Learn
More), the company was just getting its manufacturing operations
started for the LEAP program. Today, a decade later, AEC’s Roch-
ester facility is fully industrialized for high-volume, high-quality
composites fabrication that has positioned the company well to
be a major fabricator in the aerospace market. In our latest visit,
CW got to see firsthand how the company achieved this transi-
tion. Lessons learned along the way will be instructive for the
entire aerospace composites supply chain.
Albany Engineered Composites Ltd.
CompositesWorld.com
NEWS
AEC plant tour
Three parts, three plants
It’s important to understand a couple of things about AEC’s
Rochester facility. First, it’s not home to AEC only. Safran, as the
customer, operates about a third of the 345,000-square-foot plant
and takes direct delivery of all product AEC manufactures for the
LEAP program. Second, this is not the only AEC/Safran facility
fabricating fan cases and blades for the LEAP program. There
are two other similar but smaller facilities — one in Commercy,
France (100,000 square feet) and one in Querétaro, Mexico
(70,000 square feet), also jointly operated with Safran. Each
facility is AS9100-certified and together the three plants employ
about 675 people.
Beyond the LEAP program, AEC also operates facilities in
Boerne, Texas, U.S. (, square feet), Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
(, square feet) and Kaiserslautern, Germany (, square
feet). AEC employs about , people globally.
For LEAP, however, the Rochester facility is the flagship opera-
tion. It also fabricates all three of the composite parts in the
contract, in annual quantities inversely proportional to part size:
fan cases (,), fan blades (,), spacers (,). One LEAP
shipset out of the Rochester facility comprises one fan case,  fan
blades and  spacers.
The Rochester plant is also home to fabrication of the .-meter-
diameter, -kilogram fan case for the GEX engine, manufac-
tured by GE Aerospace (Cincinnati) for the Boeing X. With
a thrust of , pounds, the GEX is the largest and most
powerful commercial aircraft engine in the world. The plane it’s
Rochester, New Hampshire
©MapTiler
©OpenStreetMap
contributors
39
 PLANT TOUR

made for, however, is not yet flight-certified and is not expected

FIG. 2 LEAP engine fan case winding
Albany manufactures three variants of cases and blades for the LEAP engine
— one for Airbus (1A), one for Boeing (1B) and one for Comac (1C). Dimensions
vary moderately from variant to variant, but the fan case for each is ~2 meters in
diameter. Shown here is a woven fan case preform being wound onto a mandrel,
prior to RTM.
to enter into service until . Further, the commercial aero-
space industry is trending away from the widebody aircraft
architecture on which the X is based. Still, the GEX fan
case represents for AEC the scale and efficiency that has been
achieved at Rochester.
Regardless of the part, all manufacturing at the Rochester
facility, which employs about  people, revolves around two
core processes: Customized, highly engineered weaving of D
continuous fiber reinforcements, and resin transfer molding
(RTM) of those fabrics in highly specialized tooling systems.
AEC describes itself as the world leader in D woven compos-
ites, attractive because of the cascading benefits they provide:
through-thickness reinforcement, multilayer interlocking
preforms, integrated structures, contourability, near-net shape
preforming, high automation and minimal waste.
Brent Stevenson, VP engineering and technology, emphasizes
the benefits of D weaving in the fan cases: “With D weaving,
we can offer continuous fiber in the axial direction and contin-
uous fiber in the radial direction. That’s what is unique about
our technology, combined with the fact that you have material
in that third dimension holding it together. All three of those are
coming together to create a really unique preform technology.”
CW’s visit focused on understanding how weaving and RTM
have been optimized for high-rate aerospace manufacturing.

FIG. 3 Materials preparation, 3D weaving
One of Albany Engineered Composites’ core technologies for fan case and blade
production is 3D weaving. Each loom that performs the weaving is fed by thou-
sands of tows or yarns of carbon fiber. Shown here is the carbon fiber preparation
area, where color codes are used to denote fiber type and format prior to creel
delivery to the looms.
Fan cases
CW’s tour of the Rochester facility, led by Réjean Lavallée,
director of operations at the facility, starts with the largest
composite part on a LEAP engine. The fan cases for the LEAP
variants are similar but not identical, with slight differences in
architecture and diameter depending on engine thrust — the
larger the thrust, the bigger the fan case. However, each variant is
~2 meters in diameter, 750 millimeters wide and weighs signifi-
cantly less than comparable metallic designs, and each is fabri-
cated following the same procedures.
The first step, and CW’s first tour stop, are five massive
weaving machines producing complex carbon fiber fabric
preforms in widths that match the width of the fan case. These
are Jacquard-type looms, weaving a dry carbon fiber. The loom
is designed to enable AEC to taper the fabrics to vary the thick-
ness as needed to accommodate fan case architecture.
The loom is fed from the rear by more than , spooled
tows that comprise multiple types of carbon fiber yarns. The
complexity of weaving at AEC is measured by a variety of
factors, including preform architecture, shape and length. A
complete fan case preform uses tens of thousands weft fibers
and measures approximately  feet long.
Much of the manufacturing efficiency that AEC has gained
over the last decade revolves around the weaving process.
Lavallée says fan case weaving speed is four times faster now
than it was in . Other metrics have been improved as well:
The process is more stable and consistent, machine utilization
is higher, scrap rate has been reduced to .% (and going down)
and touch labor has been significantly reduced.

40 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 AEC plant tour
NEWS

This increased efficiency is not trivial. In fact, AEC points to
machine utilization throughout all operations as the one metric
that has driven the company’s ability to ramp up and meet the
rate requirements of the LEAP program. “When that became the
metric,” says Ray Ringleb, senior director of business develop-
ment, “it just changed everything.” (See sidebar on p.  for more
about AEC ‘s asset utilization strategy.)
After a fan case preform is woven, it then moves to the winder
for placement on the mandrel (Fig. ). The winder wraps the
woven preform around the IML fan case mold. “After weaving,
the preform is rolled up and then unwound under tension while
using laser alignment assistance to make
sure proper positioning into the tool,”
Lavallée says.
coming. Then, either we need to correct that or Safran needs to
make an adjustment to its machining. These early warning signs
are critical.”
Delivery of fan cases — and all other LEAP products — is done
quickly, given that Safran is co-located in the Rochester facility
with AEC. Safran’s operations exist just beyond our view and are
separated from AEC’s space in the factory by a modest partition
that is testimony of the close working relationship that the two
companies enjoy.
Lavallée says that Safran, when it receives a fan case or blades,
performs several finishing operations to prepare the parts for

W yoming
It is apparent, even at this early stage, • Over 40 types of
that AEC’s operations depend greatly fixtures in stock,
on advanced technologies to manage ready to be shipped.

T est
preform quality, placement and align- • Expert consultation
with Dr. Dan Adams
ment. “You will see a lot of process
• Email or call today to

F ixtures
monitoring throughout the plant,” says
discuss your fixture and
Stevenson. “Laser alignment, cameras, custom design needs.
data boards pulling information right off INC.
the machines, driving that operational
excellence because the production rate
requires it. Because again, as we learned, PREPREG TACK TEST FIXTURE
small perturbations can get out of hand
very quickly. We have to manage process
control very carefully.”
Lavallée says it takes AEC several hours LOOK WHAT'S
NEW!
to wind the -foot preform onto the tool.
Once the tool is fully assembled, it is then
transferred to an oven and prepped for
RTM. Resin is delivered to each tool by
the system through multiple injectors. The PREPREG TACK
resin system used is a toughened epoxy TEST FIXTURE
system.
As he explains injection and cure,
ASTM D8336
Lavallée notes that AEC is avidly pursuing
technologies to automate the process as
much as possible to remove the human
element. “We really understand the key
process parameters,” he says. “And we are
systematically working through all the
processes to remove any source of varia- ASTM D8336
tion in those parameters by adding tech- MODEL: WTF-PR
nology and minimizing touch labor.”
Post-cure, fan case dimensions
Shown above with
are verified and documented. This is Prepreg Specimen
particularly important for Safran, says
Stevenson, which requires notifica-
Dr. Daniel O. Adams, Vice President
tion if anomalies are detected. “At these
40+ years of Composite Testing Experience
rates, if all of a sudden we have a slip of
even just -thousandths of an inch,” 2960 E. Millcreek Canyon Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84109 email: wtf@wyomingtestfixtures.com
he says, “Safran may need to adapt their www.wyomingtestfixtures.com
Phone (801) 484.5055
machining and they need to know that’s

CompositesWorld.com 41
 PLANT TOUR
FIG. 4 Blade looms
The highest volume product Albany
manufactures for the LEAP program
is the fan blade. Each engine turns
18 blades, and with an order backlog
of 10,000+ engines, Albany has
185,000+ blades to fabricate. Shown
here are the looms in the Albany
Rochester facility weaving the
complex 3D preforms for the blades.
engine integration. These include machining, drilling, painting
and attaching the leading edge (fan blades). AEC’s relationship
with Safran is close, physically within the plant and as a business
partner. Michael Dill, senior vice president of marketing and
business development, notes, “We have found Safran to be a great
partner. They recognize our expertise and let us manage that as we
see fit. It’s been a great working relationship over the years.” AEC
and Safran announced in  that their LEAP joint venture has
been renewed until .
Fan blades, spacers
Leaving fan cases, the tour moves to fan blade and spacer fabrica-
tion, the manufacturing operation that consumes the most space
in the Rochester facility. Here, product size decreases, but the
volume of all else — materials, weavers, RTM systems — increases
substantially.
The first thing we see is the raw material preparation area for
SIDEBAR
AEC’s silver bullet: Capacity utilization
Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) recognized early on that producing
large volumes of just a few parts — fan cases, fan blades and spacers — can
drive efficiencies in many ways, ranging from increased use of automation to
robust process control. But one system that has risen above them all is what
AEC describes as its Operational Excellence focus, which emphasizes asset
utilization as a key metric that drives manufacturing efficiency.
“Operational Excellence is not just a phrase used to market us, there is real
culture in place at AEC,” says Brent Stevenson, VP engineering & technology.
“You can see it all over our sites from our performance, to the organization of
our shop floors, our process controls, detailed metrics and high standards we
commit our business too. Most importantly our customers see it!”
Further, this focus on operational excellence is a never-ending pursuit.
Stevenson notes that even as recently as 2019, pre-pandemic, AEC’s asset
42 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
the weaving operation (Fig. , p. ). This features multiple racks
of color-coded creels holding carbon fibers in a variety of formats,
ranging from single tows to multiple tows twisted into yarns. The
colors on each creel signal to operators the type and format of
the fiber; these colors, in turn, correlate to colors on the looms,
signaling to operators where creels should and should not be used.
Color, it turns out, is a big part of AEC’s manufacturing strategy
and helps operators easily and quickly match up materials with
equipment. Stevenson reminds us that the processes and proce-
dures used in Rochester are not confined to Rochester. They must
be followed in the Mexican and French plants as well. “The chal-
lenge is to produce product in three plants in three different
cultures,” he says. “It really made us understand what needed to
be done to standardize operations so that we can make the same
parts in three different places to the same specifications. Using
color is one way to do that.”
Passing through material prep, we enter an impressively long
requirements for fan case, fan blade and spacer production were
relatively high. “I’d say, right now, we need less equipment than we did
in 2019 to produce the same volume because of the advancements we’ve
made,” Stevenson says.
How does this factor into AEC’s future? The commercial aerospace
industry is in the midst of an inexorable transition toward higher-volume
manufacturing. A next-gen narrowbody aircraft, whether it’s from Boeing
or Airbus, will require monthly build rates of 60-100 shipsets. On top of
that, the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) market will demand
similar capabilities of the composites manufacturing supply chain.
Meeting these requirements will demand the kind of manufacturing
paradigm shift AEC has already accomplished by maximizing composites
manufacturing asset utilization.
 AEC plant tour
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After each fan blade preform is woven, it is transferred to a matched metal mold like the one shown human health characteristics.
in the foreground here. Laser projectors verify proper preform placement before the mold is closed
and transferred to one of 25 RTM presses (background) for resin injection. The toughened epoxy resin Polychem Acrastrip is non-
system used in the fan blades is the same as that used in the fan cases. flammable, biodegradable, has no
HAPS and is re-usable. Designed as
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product, it will effectively clean,
and wide array of looms (Fig. , opposite). The vast majority of these looms are flush and strip uncured or cured
devoted to the weaving of fan blade preforms; one loom produces spacer preforms. polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy resins,
Each fan blade loom here is fed by more than , tows of carbon fiber and each as well as adhesives and coatings.
preform requires thousands of weft tows. Like the fan case looms, weaving is
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similar to the fan case looms, efficiencies in the fan blade looms have increased over
the last decade, allowing AEC to more than double throughput.
Lavallée says each loom, here and in the fan case area, is equipped with a variety
of automated tools designed to provide in-process quality inspection. This includes
automated visual detection technology to look for broken fibers and broken tows,
which Lavallée notes are not definitionally problematic.
Stevenson expands on this idea: “This [inspection] process has become very stable,
such that we very rarely are compelled to perform rework. More often, we see gradual
process deviation over time, which we correct.”
A fan blade preform emerges from the loom as a very dense, near-net shape blade-
like D structure. The preform is very thick and fully D at the root, and then tapers
down in thickness toward the edges and tip. Also, the preform is not fully carbon
fiber; there are other fibers strategically integrated to provide process and perfor-
mance advantages.
At this point, Lavallée says, there is some excess material on the preform. This is
currently removed via automated and manual trimming processes. After trimming,
the preform is conveyed, lying flat, to the next step in the manufacturing process,
which is RTM. The RTM area comprises banks of injection units, organized in two
parallel rows (Fig. ). Here, preforms are manually placed into the female half of a
matched metal mold (see foreground, Fig. ). Overhead laser systems guide manual
preform placement and location.

CompositesWorld.com 43
 PLANT TOUR

FIG. 6 The people behind

the process
Réjean Lavallée (left), director
of operations, stands with Matt
Chapman, incoming director of
operations, at the Albany facility in
Rochester. They are standing with two
LEAP fan blades that have just come
out of an RTM press and will soon be
delivered to Safran, which operates
the plant with Albany. Safran’s
operations are performed on the
other side of the white partition in the
background.

Next, the mold is transferred to a a drying process. This, says
Stevenson, is needed to remove residual moisture from the fibers;
it also initiates crosslinking of the fiber sizing, which causes the
preform to stiffen. It’s in this condition that the mold is then closed
and manually transferred into a preforming process. Then, it’s on
to an injection unit where the same toughened epoxy resin matrix
as that used in the fan cases is injected into the preform. Post-cure,
blades are trimmed to remove flash, loaded onto carts and trans-
ferred to Safran (Fig. ).
As we leave the RTM area, we pass an automated resin loading
system AEC uses to create the recipe for the LEAP products.
Lavallée notes that a slightly different combination of resins is
required for the A and B fan blades as
well as the A and B spacers. “Process
improvement through automation of
this stage of the process continues to
be a focus improvement area for AEC,”
Lavallée states.

GE9X fan case, R&T

Leaving LEAP fabrication behind, we are
led into a separate building in Rochester
where many of the same technologies
are used to fabricate the massive fan case
for the massive GEX engine. If fabrica-
tion of the LEAP fan case is daunting in
its scale and complexity, then fabrication
of the GEX fan case for the Boeing X
program is otherworldly. At . meters in
diameter, it’s about the size of a  MAX
fuselage (Fig. , opposite). Its preform is 
meters long, . meters wide and requires
more than , warp ends. The GEX
fan case mold weighs  tons and uses 
injectors. The resin doesn’t even begin to
harden until  minutes after injection
because viscosity is kept so low for fiber
wetout.
The only uncertainty here is what
the future holds for the X and, by
extension, the GEX engine itself.

44 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 AEC plant
NEWStour

The migration of commercial aerospace away from long-haul

widebody jets and toward narrowbody architectures, combined
with the slow recovery of international travel following COVID,
makes the future of the X cloudy as best. AEC is producing
only a handful of GEX fan cases a year until the X enters
service in . In the meantime, AEC takes pride in the fact
that it has proved it has the technical muscle to scale up RTM to
produce next-gen aerostructures.
The final stop on CW’s tour of the Rochester facility is R&T,
where it’s obvious that AEC is highly focused on improving what it
already does well, and on developing technologies that will allow
the company to seize new opportunities.
Stevenson says AEC’s evolution into high-volume composites
manufacturing “has enabled us to capitalize on investments and
build efficiencies that will broaden the application for D woven
composites.”
Equipment in R&T reflects what we saw in the production area:
FIG. 7 GE9X mandrel (woven carbon fiber, toughened
multiple injection units, a fan case winder, a fan blade preforming epoxy, RTM)
cell, an oven and a compression molding machine. R&T also Although Albany’s Rochester facility is dominated by LEAP production, the
features ceramic matrix composites (CMC) manufacturing capa- company operates a separate building for production of the GE9X fan case, the
bility, which represents for AEC a significant expansion opportu- mandrel for which is shown here. The GE9X is the largest aircraft engine in the
nity. Stevenson also points to a next-generation loom that AEC is world and has a fan case 3.8 meters in diameter. Albany uses the same materials
developing, described as “Jacquard on steroids.” and processes (woven carbon fiber, RTM) to make this fan case, although produc-
tion is limited as the launch aircraft for the engine, the Boeing 777X, has not yet
All of this is manifest in a variety of collaborative R&T projects, entered service.
mainly in aerospace and defense. These include D weaving
work on hypersonics applications, work with Airbus on the Wing
of Tomorrow program, and work with CFM on its RISE (Revolu-
tionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program, which aims
to develop an open-rotor aircraft engine concept. We also caught
site, on the tour, a complex vertical tailplane (VTP) fitting that
AEC developed to TRL - for an unnamed customer (Fig. ).

Looking ahead
Like every business throughout the world, AEC was not immune
to the effects of the COVID pandemic, but Greg Harwell, president
of AEC, says the company used the pandemic-induced pause to
conduct a robust internal evaluation of its strategy and direction.
“We re-invented ourselves,” he says.
This reevaluation helped AEC steer more of its efforts toward
defense applications such that there is now a nearly equal split
between that market and commercial aerospace. It also helped the
company see the opportunities in non-weaving technologies, such
as automated tape laying (ATL), automated fiber placement (AFP),
braiding, filament winding and even hand layup.
And, like the rest of the aerospace supply chain, AEC is waiting
for Boeing or Airbus to announce a new commercial aircraft
platform. This has forced AEC (and others) into a two-pronged
growth strategy — position itself to serve Boeing and Airbus with
high-quality, cost-effective composites manufacturing when the
next platform is announced, and leverage current technology
FIG. 8 Vertical tailplane fitting demonstrator
strengths into new business.
Albany is eager to leverage its expertise in 3D weaving and RTM into other
Dill says AEC is in a strong growth position given the efficien-
aerospace and defense opportunities that would benefit from the industrializa-
cies and technologies it has built around the LEAP program. tion, automation and process control the company has developed for the LEAP
“With limited new platforms on the horizon, AEC performance structures. One example is this vertical tailplane fitting demonstrator fabricated
has allowed us to play in the takeaway space, helping key for an unnamed customer.

CompositesWorld.com 45
 PLANT TOUR

customers remove problem suppliers effectively.” three dimensions, as well as virtual testing and simulation.
One new award that AEC picked up recently is the Aft Transi- What does all of this mean for AEC? Harwell says the company
tion Assembly section for the Sikorski CH-53K King Stallion heavy- is targeting to become 50% of parent company Albany Interna-
lift helicopter. AEC will build a new 100,000-square-foot facility to tional’s $1.2 billion projected revenue by 2026, with growth fueled
fabricate 150 composite details for entirely organically. What about inorganic growth? Harwell says
the application. The company AEC is always on the lookout for opportunities to add expertise
is also establishing a develop- and capability, but it must be highly targeted. For now, he likes the
Read this article online |
short.compositesworld.com/ ment engineering program niche AEC has carved, focusing on technology, process control,
AECpt-2022 that will focus on applied tech- industrialization and efficiency.
More on CW’s 2013 Albany nology and process develop- “That’s what’s unique about us,” Harwell says. “It’s really the
tour | short.compositesworld. ment from design and structural combination of technology and operational excellence that drive
com/Albanypt-2013 analysis through qualification the results you see at AEC. And the metrics that we are able to
and low-rate production. Within derive from that consistent quality and reliability has become a
AEC the capabilities include significant advantage for us.”
hand layup, braiding, filament The ultimate enabler, as exemplified by the Rochester facility,
winding, compression molding, is volume, which has become a game-changer for the company.
infusion, 3D printing, RTM, auto- Harwell says, “The critical evolution of managing volume is the
claves and CNC processes. ability to industrialize these opportunities and continue to be the
AEC is also pursuing inno- industry benchmark.”
vation in design expertise to
support a wide range aerostructures applications. To that end,
and specifically focused on 3D woven composites, the company
has developed design software, called 3D Composite Studio, that
Jeff Sloan is editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld, and has been
can be integrated with off-the-shelf CAD systems to add weaving engaged in plastics- and composites-industry journalism for
programming capability. This software can also be used to 27 years. jeff@compositesworld.com
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 NEW PRODUCTS
New Products
Source | Getty Images
» LONG FIBER THERMOPLASTICS
PKE-based long fiber thermoplastics
broaden application options
Avient Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.), a provider of specialized and
sustainable material solutions, announces an expansion to its range
of polyketone (PK)-based materials with its new Complēt PKE long
fiber-reinforced engineered thermoplastics. The new formulations
broaden options for customers looking for strong mechanical
performance to support demanding applications, even in cold
environments.
Joining Edgetek PKE and LubriOne PKE materials launched in
2021, Complēt PKE formulations provide alternatives to nylon (PA)-
and acetal (POM)-based formulations, offering added supply security
and sustainable benefits.
“This development represents a proactive response to demands
from our customers in oil and gas, transportation and industrial
industries looking for next-generation engineered materials with a
property retention as low as -22°F for pipes, tubing, fluid manage-
ment and more,” Eric Wollan, general manager, PlastiComp at
Avient, says.
Complēt PKE formulations are semicrystalline and are said to
deliver excellent chemical resistance, low moisture uptake and
dimensional stability similar to nylon (PA66). According to Avient,
when compared to alternatives during standard testing, the materials
have the potential to reduce the carbon footprint over the product
lifecycle, producing 61% less CO2 than PA66, 46% less than PA6
and 30% less than POM. Grades are available with 30-50% long
glass fiber, enabling customers to request customized performance
requirements for certain applications. These materials are especially
useful in applications in chemical, fuel-contact and high-moisture
environments that benefit from chemical and hydrolysis resistance.
Avient’s Complēt PKE portfolio series are manufactured in North
America and are available globally. avient.com
48 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
» 3D PRINTING FILAMENT Source | Kimya
Flame-retardant polycarbonate filament for
transportation applications
An expert in the formulation and characterization of materials dedicated
to additive manufacturing (AM), Kimya (Nantes, France) continues to
enrich its range of high-performance 3D filaments with Kimya PC-FR.
The ready-to-use, smokeless, amorphous polycarbonate thermoplastic
can withstand a temperature range of -80°C to 105°C and has good
dimensional stability. It also stands out for its flame-retardant proper-
ties. While it does not incorporate fiber reinforcement, Kimya notes that
the filament does have potential to be used in composites. This material
joins the 25 or so filaments that the company — with the help of its
resellers — distributes in some 20 countries, including 10 technical and
eight high-performance filaments.
Certified to EN45545-2 level HL1/HL2/HL3/R1 and R6, and meeting
REACH and RoHS standards, Kimya PC-FR filament is particularly
suitable for the production of parts in the railway and automotive
sectors, as well as in the electronics field — demanding applications that
are concerned with fire safety.
“Due to its specific technical characteristics, Kimya PC-FR is an ideal
material for printing mechanisms and railway parts that are subject to
high heat, such as runners to increase the wheel-rail adhesion of a train
in case of emergency braking,” Nicolas Morand, R&D, innovation and
industrialization manager at Kimya, says.
In addition, 3D printing with Kimya PC-FR filament is reported to
be a more cost- and time-efficient alternative to long lead times. For
example, lead times for high-cost molding operations are cut in half,
making low-volume production applications like obsolete injection part
replacement viable.
A 3D-printed guide using Kimya PC-FR, for example, helps protect
and secure rail car electrical cables. In this application, the part is used
to improve the resistance of cables to vibrations as well as to avoid
damage through abrasion.
In an endeavor to make the printing process easier for all users,
Kimya has established numerous partnerships with 3D printer
manufacturers in order to approve filaments on their machines. Kimya
PC-FR filament has been approved on the Ultra model from manufac-
turer miniFactory (Seinäjoki, Finland), a Kimya partner since 2018. This
filament has also been validated by Stratasys (Rehovot, Israel), enabling
its users to benefit from an extended filament range, gain flexibility and
accelerate the adaptation of AM to their operations. kimya.fr/en
 NEW PRODUCTS

» DISPERSION EQUIPMENT
Dual-shaft mixer
designed for high-
speed polymer
dispersions
Charles Ross & Son Co. (Ross,
Hauppauge, N.Y., U.S.), a
Source | Base Materials manufacturer of industrial
mixing, blending, drying and
» TOOLING BOARD dispersion equipment, introduces
Medium-temperature, everyday epoxy its robust and versatile line of Source | Ross
tooling board Dual Shaft Mixers, said to be
Base Materials (Leicester, U.K.) strengthens its epoxy materials range powerful enough to mix batch dispersions, suspensions and emulsions
with the launch of BE368, a new medium-temperature, everyday with viscosities up to several hundred thousand centipoise. These
tooling material designed for the manufacture of master models, heavy-duty machines are built for rigorous applications that are highly
patterns, jigs and fixtures. viscous, temperature-sensitive or reactive, according to the company.
Suitable for use across a range of industries including automotive, The custom-built Ross FDA-3500 system in particular is ideal for
aerospace and motorsport, the BE368 epoxy tooling board features producing resin blends, filled composites, plastisols and various other
a good surface finish, a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), polymer dispersions. It features a maximum working capacity of 3,500
improved dimensional stability and an inert surface for wide-ranging gallons, a two-zone stainless steel dimpled jacket for heating/cooling, a
compatibility at temperatures up to +165°C. 4" pneumatic discharge valve and an explosion-proof load cell system
Base Materials’ BE368 epoxy tooling material, which is manufactured rated for up to 20,000 lbs.
in-house, is available in a number of board thicknesses up to 150 mm. The Ross FDA-3500 multi-agitator system is equipped with inde-
Base Materials also produces a full range of ancillary products, which pendently controlled drives and is highly efficient at producing good
includes adhesives, sealers and release agents. base-materials.co.uk turnover and imparting shear to a viscous batch. mixers.com

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 APPLICATIONS

High-temperature ›Founded in 2015, Opterus Research and Development (Loveland, Colo.,

U.S.) manufactures highly specialized, deployable spacecraft structures —
composite 3D printing meaning foldable or bendable components such as booms, hinges, solar
array structures, antennas and reflectors designed for easy attachment and
facilitates design, storage to a satellite or launch vehicle.
The company says the key to high-performance, space-ready structures
manufacture of that are also foldable and compact is its work in pioneering high strain
composites (HSC), or composite materials tuned to enable a much higher
deployable space level of deformation and strain than typical stiffness-driven composite
materials. Thanks to HSCs, Opterus claims that some of its deployable

structures structures, which can be up to 30 meters, are capable of rolling out up to

Opterus R&D employs an AON3D
printer and OOA prepregs to build
the tooling, prototypes and end-use
versions of its foldable CFRP
satellite structures.
Source (all images) | AON3D
100 times their folded, stowed length.
The company offers a full range of services to its customers, from part
design through simulation, analysis, tooling development and low-volume
manufacture via oven-cured, aerospace-grade prepregs. Over the past few
years, Opterus has added composite 3D printing to its capabilities, with the
acquisition of an AON3D (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) AON M2+ printer.
Today, Opterus says it uses 3D printing throughout its entire product
development life cycle, from concept development to end-use composite
parts. “When we’re trying to understand how to design and manufacture
these architectures, we really do need to develop early proof-of-concept
demonstrations and we leverage a test build process to understand how
these advanced structures behave in a space domain,” explains Erik
Pranckh, the director of business development at Opterus.
The AON M2+ was originally chosen because of its capabilities to
print high-temperature materials, making it suitable for directly printing
composite tooling. Opterus designs molds and tools that are then printed
using Solvay’s (Brussels, Belgium) Ketaspire PEEK AM Filament CF10 LS1,
a carbon fiber-filled polyetheretherketone (PEEK). “A nice feature of the
CF PEEK components is the combination of mechanical stability at prepreg
cure temperatures coupled with the material’s low CTE [coefficient of
thermal expansion], which ensures dimensionally accurate parts after
high-temperature processing,” says Eric Beardslee, product and content
marketing manager at AON3D.
The M2+ operates via an extrusion-based process, specifically fused
filament fabrication (FFF), wherein the printing filament is fed into an
extruder head and through a heated nozzle. According to Beardslee,
high-performance materials like the carbon fiber-filled PEEK materials that
Opterus uses require processing at a constant, high-heat build chamber
temperature in order to “maximize mechanical, thermal and chemical
properties of a part while reducing printed-in stress and warping.” For this
reason, the M2+ operates at high heat — up to 500°C through the nozzle,
135°C in the build chamber and 200°C on the build surface.
After printing, an epoxy or Teflon tape can be added to cover up or
smooth the layer lines; otherwise, little postprocessing is needed.
The AON M2+ supports a build volume of 450 × 450 × 565 millimeters
(approximately 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.9 feet), which suits the needs of much of
Opterus’ tooling for deployable space structures. For larger tools, traditional
machining of metal or graphite is used.
“The thing that excites me most about what I’m doing here at Opterus is
our potential to entirely disrupt the way space structures are designed and
disrupt the current state of the art for deployable space structures,” notes
Patrick Rodriguez, composites lead at Opterus.

50 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

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51
 FOCUS ON DESIGN
Novel composite technology replaces
welded joints in tubular structures
The Tree Composites TC-joint replaces traditional welding in jacket
foundations for offshore wind turbine generator applications, advancing
the world’s quest for fast, sustainable energy deployment.
By Stewart Mitchell / Contributing Writer
» The world’s quest for sustainable energy resources means the
rapid development of offshore wind power plays a significant
part in the energy sector’s future. In 2021, 82 new offshore wind
turbine generator (WTG) power plants were installed worldwide,
contributing to more than 280 active power plants and adding 21.1
gigawatts (GW) of wind power connected to the world’s power
grid. This deployment rate is reasonable, but must accelerate if the
world is to combat climate change successfully.
Wind power’s desirability is not solely an environmental one.
In May , the European Commission released the REPowerEU
plan, aiming to achieve European independence from Russian
fossil fuels well before . At a similar time, the Esbjerg Decla-
ration by the North Sea nations of Denmark, Netherlands,
Belgium and Germany pledged to increasingly replace fossil
fuels, including Russian oil, coal and gas, with European renew-
able energy from the North Sea, including offshore wind and
green hydrogen, contributing to EU climate neutrality and energy
security.
The declaration sets ambitious combined targets for offshore
wind of at least  GW by  and aims to more than double that
total capacity of offshore wind to at least  GW by , deliv-
ering more than half of the power needed to reach EU climate
52 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
Tree Composites composite TC-joints
Tree Composites’ TC-joint used in jacket foundations for wind turbine genera-
tors (WTGs) has the potential to increase foundation structure manufacturing
throughput by 100% by eliminating welding, supporting efforts to reach climate
goals. Source | Tree Composites
neutrality, according to the European Commission’s Strategy on
Offshore Renewable Energy.
In  we saw the U.K. government increase its offshore wind
target from  GW to  GW by , and the U.S. announce a .%
increase in offshore wind procurement targets at the state level to
nearly  GW by the same time. This increases the predicted global
outlook for offshore wind to around  GW by , requiring
about  GW of installations per year for the remainder of the
decade, compared to the current yearly rate of about  GW.
As the size of the offshore industry increases, WTG manufac-
turers are concentrating on a sustainable approach to expansion by
reducing resource-intensive manufacturing and installation, and
decarbonizing the hard-to-abate, pre-operational emissions before
WTGs generate their first watt of carbon-free energy.
Tree Composites, a Delft, Netherlands-based composite joint
 Tree Composites TC-joint

Steel members
Chord members

Brace members

GFRP
composite wrap

Composite/steel-
bonded TC-joint
Brace members
(K, double-K,
triple-K, T, X or Y
joints)
Source (original images) | Tree Composites

WTG GFRP composite joint

› GFRP composite joint replaces traditional › Optimized structural performance and chemical › Increased production rate and reduced
joint welding in jacket foundation joints. corrosion versus welded jacket foundation joints. pre-operation emissions of WTGs.

Susan Kraus / Illustration

designer and manufacturer, has developed a GFRP composite joint
to connect steel tube members together in WTG foundation struc-
tures, replacing resource-heavy welding, significantly reducing
pre-operational emissions and increasing foundation structure
manufacturing throughput by as much as %. Tree Composites’
invention aims to assist the WTG industry in reaching the required
installation rate to meet the world’s green energy goals.
Foundational design challenges
Foundations in the form of monopiles, jackets or floating founda-
tions support offshore WTGs, depending on the water depth. The
locations where monopile foundations are used, however, are
less desirable because deeper waters typically see more optimal
conditions for producing wind power. Monopiles are economi-
cally appropriate for waters up to 40 meters deep, after which a
lattice-type arrangement called a jacket foundation is the support
structure of choice. Most offshore WTGs positioned in waters
40 to 80 meters deep use jacket foundations; this depth is where
much of the WTG industry’s investment is going.
Jacket foundations are typically composed of circular cross-
section, hollow steel tubes. The structure’s legs, known as chord
members, are supported by welded brace members to form the
lattice structure. Each steel tube is typically around .- meters in
diameter with a wall thickness between  to  millimeters. The
chord members connect to the brace members at what is known as
K, double-K, triple-K, T, X or Y joints, with the letter denoting the
shape of the joint.
The chord members are usually attached to the seabed using
piles to secure the structure. The primary load applied to the jacket
foundation is an overturning moment due to the resulting applied
wind forces about the points of contact with the seabed. The over-
turning moment is calculated as the moment generated by the
horizontal loads with respect to the most extreme corners of the
base. The reaction to wind translates to vertical loads on the chords
and angular stress at the brace member joints. As such, they must
be sufficiently strong to cope. The wind loads are also cyclic so they

CompositesWorld.com 53
53
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

Construction Finance 3.9% Insurance During applications is widely used and well understood, alternatives to
Contingency 9.3% Construction 0.9% welding are desirable.
Decommissioning 3%
Plant Commissioning Composites alternative
0.9% Turbine 34.7%
In 2016, Marko Pavlovic, an assistant professor of Steel and
Lease Price 4.5% Soft Cost
17.9% Turbine Composite Structures at Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft,
34.7%
Netherlands), came up with an idea for a composite jacket foun-
Assembly and Balance of
installation 10.4% System dation joint after being inspired by a 300-year-old tree near
47.5% his hometown; the tree was saved by the local community by
Development 2.3%
supporting it with a steel tube structure. The supported tree grew
Electrical Substructure and over and around the tubes over time, creating a structural connec-
Infrastructure 17.6% Foundation 12.6% tion. As a result, the tree was able to react to the loads it was
Achieving CO2 emission goals subjected to, growing additional fibers only where needed.
Using this concept, Pavlovic devised a prefabricated composite
According to the Global Wind Energy Council’s 2022 Wind Report, the substructure
and foundation cost of WTGs amounts to 12.6% of its overall cost. joint shaped to the K, double-K, triple-K, T, X and Y joints of
Source | Global Wind Energy Council
an offshore jacket foundation to provide a load path-optimized
connection between the steel tube members, ridding the structure
of resource-intense and failure-prone welding. The composite joint
cause oscillating fatigue in some of the structure’s tubes and joints. structure would be created by a composite wrap to produce a suffi-
Additionally, as the turbine rotates, the blades create a pressure ciently large bonding surface, carrying the stress in a weight- and
wave behind them, which can cause resonance excitations in material-volume-efficient way and thus reducing the extreme loads
the tower and foundation if they fall in the structure’s natural at the member interface.
frequency window. If the pressure wave frequency were to match In partnership with Dr. Maxim Segeren, a TU Delft alumnus who
the WTG structure’s resonant frequency, the system could respond studied connections for offshore wind turbines, the first prototype
at greater amplitude, causing violent swaying motions and poten- composite jacket foundation joint sleeve came to fruition in ,
tially catastrophic failure. Thus, the structures must be designed constructed at Versteden B.V. (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands).
to avoid resonance from any load type, including waves, wind and
the blade-passing frequency. Optimizing WTG construction
Not only are jacket foundation manufacturers investing in new The prototype composite joint was created by hand layup of glass
designs to overcome these challenges and increase the deploy- fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP), specially selected for offshore
ment rate of WTGs, but they are also developing larger turbine applications, consolidated with a thermoset resin. The composite
supports for higher powered WTGs because the existing capacity is joint length, number of UD layers and their orientation custom
undersized to meet the target implementation requirements. fabricated to each joint’s load requirements.
Manufacture of the complex joints at the braces and chords The structure was consolidated at ambient temperature via an
intersection is one of the most important challenges to upscaling exothermic reaction rather than under autoclave conditions. No
the WTG industry, particularly regarding the human power vacuum bag was used during the consolidation though the fabrica-
required to weld the joints together. The complex member joints tion takes place in a climate-controlled plant to prevent moisture
are critical to the structure’s performance; the joint angles can be intrusion and provide quality control.
as tight as ° and are normally hand-welded by skilled fabricators The load path-optimized shape increases in thickness toward
in slow and costly production processes. the root of the joint, reducing the stress concentration at the
The welds at the joints create stress-concentration areas in the member interface to facilitate the highest possible fatigue strength.
structure, seeing as much as  times more local stress than the “The design of the composite joint means the fatigue resistance
unwelded sections, which reduces the joint’s fatigue life by as is substantially improved thanks to the composite’s high dura-
much as five-fold. As such, to combat fatigue, wall thicknesses bility and flexibility, circumventing stress concentrations, residual
at the locations of these complex welds need to be increased
dramatically to deal with the increased stresses during
its lifetime. While welding for offshore jacket foundation +45˚
-45˚
0˚
90˚
Composite joint layup
An example of the layers of UD glass fiber as consolidated for a
+45˚
composite jacket foundation joint. The number of UD layers and
their orientation are custom fabricated to each foundation joint’s
load requirements. Source | Tree Composites

54 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld

 Tree Composites TC-joint

stresses, embrittlement and notch TC-joint qualification testing

effects common to welding,” Dr. Segeren Jacket foundation composite joint during
notes. “By appointing the composite mechanical testing. The speckled appearance is
joint and bonded interface, there is no a random paint pattern applied to enable digital
need for overdesigned global thick- image correlation (DIC), an imaging technique used
to capture a complete strain field during testing.
nesses of the tubes; the entire steel
Source | Tree Composites
structure can be designed respecting
static loads resulting in substantial
reductions in wall thicknesses.” Partnerships with Shell Global Indus-
“As the steel in a jacket foundation tries (Hague, Netherlands) and Siemens
structure accounts for -% of the Gamesa (Hague) for offshore wind
WTG’s total production carbon foot- turbines together with engineering
print, the composite joint can reduce the company Enersea (Schiedam, Neth-
amount of steel because the fatigue limit erlands), as well as two jacket foun-
of the complex welds and thickness tran- dation manufacturers, HSM Offshore
sitions no longer drives the thickness of (Schiedam, Netherlands) and Smulders
steel tubes,” Dr. Segeren continues. “The (Arendonk, Belgium), are providing a
composite joint will reduce the amount path for the use of TC-joint in future
of steel needed by up to %; this WTG projects.
reduces the carbon footprint of jacket foundations by -%.” Tree Composites now has two partners in manufacturing yards
In addition, Dr. Segeren notes, “The more heavily loaded the for TC-joint structures, one in the Netherlands and one in Belgium,
structure, the more steel we can reduce, and the amount of steel and works in partnership with resin suppliers AOC Nederland
material weight saved correlates to the amount of pre-operational (Zwolle, Netherlands) and Büfa (Rastede, Germany).
CO saved in implementing the WTG, thanks to fewer resources
required in manufacturing, transport, assembly and building.” Value to offshore wind
“The principle added value of the Tree Composites jacket founda-
Robust testing tion TC-joint for WTGs is a potential 100% throughput increase
More than 100 tests have been carried out on the composite jacket of jacket foundation structure manufacturing compared to the
foundation joint at TU Delft to optimize its design. As it is to operate time-consuming welding operation,” Segeren says. “We [the wind
offshore, it needed to be qualified for the environmental conditions turbine manufacturing industry] need to install two to three
including interaction with the wind, water, air and at the surface, turbines per day moving forward in order to reach our zero emis-
where air and water interface. sions and climate goals for 2050.”
“Waves cause cyclic load, wind “However, using conventional technology, today we only install
Read this article online| generates a consistent force causing one offshore turbine every three to five days,” he continues. “I want
short.compositesworld.com/ creep stress and the water can be to affect the energy transition positively, and our technology is vital
TreeComposites
corrosive depending on its salt in increasing the production rate needed to reach Europe’s renew-
levels and pH,” Dr. Segeren explains. able energy targets by  and beyond. The technology will be fully
“Sunlight also causes radiation certified, and it takes time to gain adoption and prove reliability over
and UV exposure stress on the risk. It costs $- billion to build a -GW offshore wind turbine
composite.” farm and Tree Composites can decrease lease timing and increase
The testing period proved that production capacity that could lead to more cost-effective jacket
the composite joint successfully structures.”
managed the jacket foundation The company has worked to advance its TC-joint technology
joint loads and even outperformed to TRL  and is working on pilot projects aiming for TRL  in early
the fatigue performance of unwelded jacket foundation steel tube . The Tree Composites TC-joint remains under development,
members, remaining stable well after the steel failed. including an investigation into more sustainable resin solutions.
After successful testing to quantify the characteristics of the
composite joint in offshore conditions, Segeren, together with P.
Bogers and E. Simons of Versteden B.V. founded Tree Composites
in  to bring the composite joint, which they call the TC-joint, Stewart Mitchell is a Bristol, U.K.-based engineering journalist
to market. At the end of , the certification body, Det Norske with experience covering technology in Formula 1, electric and
Veritas (Høvik, Norway), provided a statement of feasibility for the hybrid powertrain and autonomous systems. He has a degree
in motorsport engineering from Oxford Brookes University
TC-joint, giving Tree Composites the initial step to certification for (Oxford, U.K.), and is a member of The Institution of Mechanical
this new technology. Engineers (London, U.K.). smitchell@compositesworld.com

CompositesWorld.com 55
 POST CURE

Post Cure
Highlighting the behind-the-scenes
of composites manufacturing

Generative textile impregnation process

Tailored fiber placement (TFP) is a method established by Source | IPF Dresden/Emanuel Richter

the Leibniz-Institute für Polymerforschung Dresden e. V. (IPF,

Dresden, Germany) to quickly construct complex, optimized Show us what you have!
fiber preforms. A new patented development announced in The CompositesWorld team wants
2022 called TFPprint, representing an extension of TFP tech- to feature your composite part,
nology, makes it possible to automatically apply an initial manufacturing process or facility in
polymer matrix material (e.g., liquid uncrosslinked elastomer next month’s issue.
material) at precisely defined positions directly after the fiber Send an image and caption
has been deposited, impregnating the textile locally, as shown in to CW Technical Editor Hannah
this image. This development has the potential to create ther- Mason at hmason@composites-
moset, multimatrix, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites world.com, or connect with us on
components while advancing application versatility. social media.

@CompositesWorld CompositesWorld @CompositesWrld @CompositesWorld CompositesWorld

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56 FEBRUARY 2023 CompositesWorld
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