JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #116 - October 2017 - 63

efficiency TECHNOLOGY

Cost-efficient preforming
using tailored textiles

carSten uthemann,
Research Assistant
chriStopher Lenz,
Research Assistant
thomaS grieS,
Head of Institute
Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of
RWTH Aachen University

Multiple process steps and inefficient material utilization are the main cost
drivers in preforming. Integrating local reinforcements during the textile
production process is a promising approach to overcome these issues. ITA is
investigating such an approach based on Open Reed Weaving technology.

onventional multi-stage preforming for the production
of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) consists in cutting,
stacking and draping uniform reinforcement fabrics
such as woven fabrics or non crimp fabrics. This results in
a high number of process steps and causes as much as 30%
waste, eventually leading to high production costs [1, 2].
Tailored textiles are a promising approach for the reduction
of these costs. Such textiles feature locally adapted properties resulting from the integration of local reinforcements
during their production process.
Despite this advantage, tailored textiles are still rarely used
in composite parts. Challenges concerning their industrial
application result from the new possibilities in textile design.
Existing processes for the development and production of
composite parts are based on conventional uniform textiles.
This way of design prevents a systematic consideration of
tailored textiles. ITA developed a modified product design
process for the use of tailored textiles in composite parts.
The innovative core of this modified approach is a production-oriented part design. The objective is to determine the
part concept that offers the highest cost-saving potential by
specification of boundary conditions.
A modified product design process
The general approach is to integrate the developed concept
into the conventional product development process for composite parts. In a first step, a preliminary laminate design is
set up. Using topology optimization, the load paths are identified and the position of the necessary reinforcement structures is derived. Based on this information and additional
input concerning the production scenario (e.g. planned

quantity), the TailoredPreform tool is used to identify suitable tailored textile technologies. Subsequently, the desired
technologies can be selected and the tool evaluates possible
part concepts resulting from the combination of different reinforcement structures. The local reinforcements of the best
fitting combination are then designed in detail. Finally, technology-related aspects are addressed. The resulting design
process is shown in Figure 1.

Application example
The modified product development process was validated through the conceptualization and production of a preform demonstrator optimized for the Open Reed Weaving
(ORW) technology.
Developed by Lindauer Dornier GmbH (Lindau, Germany),
the ORW technology allows the integration of additional multiaxial threads into a basic woven fabric by means of

Fig. 1: Modified product design process for composite parts

N°116 October 2017

/ jec composites magazine

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