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An all-in-one solution for digital composite production

   Date:2020-04-02     Source:9TLABS     Hits:1934     Comment:0    
Core tips:9T Labs launches Red Series, a complete manufacturing solution consisting of advanced software, additive manufacturing e
 9T Labs launches Red Series, a complete manufacturing solution consisting of advanced software, additive manufacturing equipment, as well as engineering service to find the right applications for composites series production.
 
Democratizing composites - What does it take to make load carrying fiber composite structure more accessible?
 
From a functional point of view, such materials are very attractive. High performance composites possess excellent mechanical and chemical characteristics, making them applicable for various industries such as aerospace, automotive, medtech and leisure. Remouldability and high fracture toughness of thermoplastic based matrix systems led to new applications with short cycle times in production and high damage tolerance.
 
However, the comparably high costs associated with carbon fiber composite parts to its aluminium or steel contenders, remain a constraining factor. Clearly, a higher degree of freedom to optimize the part geometry and the fiber layup in combination with increased automation in manufacturing will reduce the current constraint.
 
Toward a game-changing solution for composite production - Digital Production
 
When screening the process landscape, additive manufacturing technologies show the highest potential to deliver on those demands for manufacturing.
 
Red Series is the result of developing the optimal bundle including advanced software technologies, innovative production machinery equipment, and industry-standard material with the goal to meet the expected industrial standards while lowering both complexity and costs.
 
Toward true anisotropy - Industry-Standard Materials
 
Nowadays, the production of many composite parts starts with a technical textile having a constant fiber-volume content. In this case, the full freedom in designing a part based on the expected load cases is already very limited from the very beginning of the value-chain. In fact, this results in less than average material-efficiency in many applications with associated negative impacts on both environmental footprint and cost structure.
 
Wouldn’t it be valuable to place fibers only exactly where needed?
 
Currently, 9T Labs focus on two polymers, PA12 and PEKK. To ensure the highest consistency of the fiber material, they supply CF/PA12 and CF/PEKK filaments that are used to build the part.
 
While the material is key for the processability and the end function of the parts, the software component of the whole value chain plays a crucial role to enable the optimal part design.
 
Quickly and reliably manufacture the most optimal designs - Software
 
Today, 9T Labs already able to quickly define optimal fiber designs through integrated FEA simulation tools.
 
Firstly, fibrify Design Suite - 9T Labs design engineer’s toolkit - enables variable fiber angles and designs that comprise plastic regions exempt from fiber reinforcements to bring new designs to life. It features an intuitive manual workflow that gives the user full control over fiber placement throughout the part. In addition, intelligent fiber lay-up proposals are made based on user inputs to accelerate the design process.
 
Secondly, the design output, together with application specific data, are fed into ANSYS’ Composite PrepPost (ACP), a FEA simulation software. There, designs can be structurally validated before being produced. This enables a quick iterative design process that results in an optimized design within minutes.
 
Last but not least, fibrify Production enables users to connect to 9T Labs’ equipment, start production and monitor the process.
 
Produce industry grade serial parts - Hardware
 
As mentioned in the introductory part, addtive manufacturing shows a high potential when it comes to design flexibility. As they are looking at continuous fiber reinforced structures, technologies based on filaments - especially FDM/FFF - are in scope. 9T Labs’ build module includes a proprietary depositioning head with a neat plastic filament extruder and a CF/plastic depositioning mechanism.
 
For proper consolidation, the parts are post-processed by applying pressure and temperature in fusion module. This is especially attractive when working with thermoplastic materials.
 
In fact, this 2-stage process ensures part quality, reproducibility and cost competitiveness for series production applications. Last but not least, it allows welding multiple parts together, thus enabling true 3D fiber orientation in the final consolidated part.
 
Low entry barrier through subscription model - How to become a red series user
 
At 9T Labs, the goal is to make fiber composite production more accessible to everyone. This is only possible when lowering the initial investments, decreasing the time from idea to production, increasing productivity by state of the art equipment and opening up new application markets.
 
This is why 9T Labs decided to provide the Red Series as a subscription for users to get your all-in-one solution for automated composite production.
 
Still, they are aware of the necessity for users to have solid assessment parameters before commiting to a novel technology. Therefore, they have defined two items for users to investigate their technology and assess if 9T Labs can really deliver added-value for their production.
 
Two items to get onboard - Material characterization set & feasibility study red series
 
Before assessing end-part performances, testing the materials is a common procedure. To standardize the samples provided on request, the company defined a material characterization set including following items:
 
 
 
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