JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #116 - October 2017 - 25

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Thermoplastics

28

Development of a carbon-thermoplastic hub
for the H160 helicopter

MANUFACTURING

NDT

New flexibility in 3D digitalisation
and defect detection for batch composite production

NDT MANUFACTURING

New flexibility in 3D digitalisation and defect
detection for batch composite production
Apodius GmbH, part of Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, presents its novel, flexible
HP-C-V3D Apodius Vision System for three-dimensional part digitalisation. Complying
with the requirements of the Apodius Vision System product family, the composites
inspection system was specifically developed for quality control and component design
during the production of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP). In particular, flexible hand-held
3D measuring systems that are not only required in the start-up phase of large-scale
production, but also give an economic edge for small batches, are entirely new.
Daniel Franke,
Project Manager
Matthias schMitz,
Project Engineer
Apodius GmbH

Q

uality control and process automation represent critical factors for
the cost-effective establishment
of FRP part production. While enormous process automation potential was
achieved within the past years, manufacturing companies are still confronted with
increasing challenges in the field of quality
control. They must both meet the market's
rising quality demands and evaluate their
parts and processes based on predefined
specifications. Due to the heterogeneous
optical behaviour of fibres, conventional
measuring systems either reach their
performance limits or do not meet the

required measuring accuracy without
destructive preparation of semi-finished
textiles. Further developments especially
designed for FRP parts in the field of
optical metrology allow the cost-effective
implementation of quality control in both
batch and large-scale production for the
first time.

2D measurements
The Apodius Vision System 2D is an
optical measuring system specifically developed for fibre orientation measurement
and defect detection that is both qualified
for fully automated inline and stationary
offline measuring. So far, mainly largescale production and high-tech applications for 100% examinations or statistical
process control (SPC) have been equipped

with the 2D system. Information on
the part's surface texture is captured by
high-resolution optical systems and subsequently analysed. Fibre orientation can
be reliably determined with a resolution of
0.1 degrees by evaluating the recorded raw
image data of the texture. These are the
basic functions of a system family on the
basis of which modules for defect detection meeting specific requirements can be
added. As the only available system on the
market for FRP parts, the Apodius Vision
System 2D allows valid measurements for
production release and the necessary SPC
including the assessment of production
process capability, which must be guaranteed for characteristics that are relevant
for the approval of FRP parts, such as fibre
orientation or pronounced defects.

N°116 October 2017

/ jec composites magazine

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #116 - October 2017
