Great progress has been made in recent years in the automation of composites manufacturing using tape and tow placement machinery in combination with techniques such as hot drape forming. However, one very common class of component, the sandwich panel of complex geometry, has to date proven very difficult to manufacture by automated methods. These parts are commonly made from prepregged woven cloth over a honeycomb core, although foam cores are also used. Simple panels are relatively easy to manufacture but problems rapidly arise as the level of geometrical complexity increases. The difficulties in automating the manufacture of these types of panels largely derive from the limitations of the deformation properties of the woven reinforcement and the relatively poor tolerancing of the lightweight aramid paper honeycomb cores generally used in this application. This paper will review the attempts to automate the manufacture of such parts and discuss the difficulties inherent in the automated handling of woven reinforcements. Several approaches being developed at the University of Bristol will be outlined and possible routes to the development of a fully automated approach to manipulate woven reinforcement will be discussed.
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