Loop Technology (Dorchester, Bristol and Sheffield in U.K.), an automation specialist with expertise in machine vision, motion control and industrial robotics, is broadcasting its flagship FibreLine system that delivers automated, high-rate preforming for composites manufacturing. It has recently been combined with Zünd’s (Oak Creek, Wis., U.S.) largest-ever digital cutting system, the Aero Q-Line, which offers high speed and precision in cutting composite material while reducing the potential for stray fibers.

FibreLine leverages a variety of automated tools to lay up very large, wide-format, multilayer plies into a mold with millimeter precision, while simultaneously managing shear forces to ensure no damage is done to the material. It achieves material deposition rates of 200 kg/hr and higher, depending on configuration — offering a manufacturing rate far beyond traditional manual layup and AFP/ATL, Loop reports.

At FibreLine’s core are two layup tools. FibreForm uses high flow vacuum generator grippers to pick, form and place plies up to 2 m wide and 20 m long. This composite gripper is able to pick the material off the cutting table, form it into complex 3D shapes to match the tool surface — including concave, convex and omega double curvature profiles — and place them onto the tool with a positional accuracy of ±2 mm. FibreRoll uses interchangeable storage rollers to pick and place plies up to 5 m wide and 20 m long and is applicable to less geometrically complex tool surfaces and lay-flat-and-form, ideal for manufacturing gently curving aircraft wing skins, for example.

Capable of processing dry fiber and prepreg fabrics, FibreLine delivers a step change in material deposition rates for aerospace and defense, enabling manufacturers to produce next-generation aerostructures at faster rates. The modular, scalable system also offers opportunities to reduce factory footprint and drive efficiency into the downstream assembly process. It has been designed to address the record demand for lighter, more efficient aircraft, but is applicable to manufacturing a wide range of composite structures.