Advancements in Additive Manufacturing of Composites Enabling Real-World Structural Applications
Moderator: Jim Fisher, NDCMM, Director of Operations
Panelists:
- Travis Lathrop, Markforged, Strategic Applications Engineer
- Wiener Mondesir, Arevo, Co-Founder, CTO
- Lonnie Love, Ph.D., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Corporate Fellow and Group Leader
- Tim Schniepp, Stratasys, Sr. Director – Composite Solutions
Additive manufacturing experts will participate in a panel discussion to discuss the latest advancements in 3D printing of composites. Various forms of 3D printing have been available for many years, but weak physical properties have limited applications that required any structural properties. Recent developments in materials, computing technology, and large-scale equipment are now enabling new applications that compete with traditional methods. Each of the four panelists will provide a 20-minute presentation of their work in this area and then participate in a combined 40-minute question and answer session.
Issues of Concern in Composite Repair and Some Newer Developments
Featured Speaker: Mike Hoke, Abaris, President
This presentation will cover current repair techniques for advanced composites, including critical to flight safety carbon fiber structures. An example of a very large repair to a pressure vessel will be discussed. Some newer repair developments will be shown, and more recent concerns from the FAA and EASA will be covered in some detail as well.
Adhesive Bonding of Hybrid Structures
Moderator: Mick Maher, Maher & Associates
Panelists:
- Rob Jensen, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Acting Deputy Director, ARL NE
- Paul Oldroyd, Bell Helicopter Textron / Inc.
- Giles Dillingham, BTG Labs, CEO, Chief Scientist
- Rui Xie, Huntsman
The ability to bond hybrid structures has been a challenge since materials were first glued together. Bonded structures have been shown to be the most efficient and effective use of joining materials. Doing this with dissimilar materials brings on challenges with mismatches in CTE, thermal conductivity, stiffness, and strength. Yet the ability to combine different materials offers new capabilities in designing multifunctional structures, that will provide lower cost and weight platforms. For this reason, the aerospace and automotive market places are moving towards using this technology as much as possible on their new platforms, but it has been a difficult path. The uncertainty surrounding the initial state of the bond, damage tolerance and durability has had a detrimental effect on true adoption the technology and the associated benefits in cost and weight savings. With this panel, we have assembled leading experts representing design, manufacturing, materials, testing, and the en user to discuss the benefits and challenges still facing adopting this critical technology. Areas to be covered include case studies, concerns that need to be addresses, and where is the technology headed.
Automation of Layup and Inspection – Best Practices and How to Get There
Moderator: Robert Harper, Fives Group
- Bill Cleary, Triumph
- Al Halbritter, Boeing
- Mike Smoot, Accudyne
- Erik Lund, Fives Lund Engineering
The challenges of automating composites layup are well known: part complexities, high deposition rates, maintaining part quality, repeatability, and the need to eliminate labor intensive inspection methods. With the increase in the types of parts and types of materials being used in aerospace lamination, we will discuss at what point automating of lamination make sense and how to get there. Additionally, we will discuss the relevancy of an automated inspection system to the lamination process, and the options.
Design of Composites – Challenges and Opportunities
Moderator: Mike Spellman, Autodesk, Director – Composites
Panelists:
- Andrew Maxey, Vartega, Founder and CEO
- Giovanni Nino, Quest Integrated, Director – Composites R&D
- Wiener Mondesir, Arevo, Co-Founder, CTO
- Eric Povitz, Impossible Objects
- Jon Hollander, Seriforge, Inc., CEO
Panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities in regard to designing with composites. Session will focus primarily on new manufacturing methods and new material forms and the challenges these present to existing design tools.
Composites 4.0
Featured Speakers:
- Brench Boden, AFRL
- Dr. Bronwyn Fox, Swinburne University of Technology, Director – Manufacturing Futures Research Institute
- Avner Ben-Bassat, Plataine, CEO
- Scott Quinn, GE Aviation, Digital Playbook Leader, Ceramic Matrix Composites
As the Industry 4.0 concept gains traction, this track discusses how concepts like automation, data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, cyber-physical systems, the internet of things, and cloud computing can impact the Advanced Composites industry.
Development of Multifunctional and Green Composites for Aerospace and Beyond
Featured Speaker: Xiaosu Yi, AVIC Composites Corp./Univ. of Nottingham Ningbo China
As the use of structural carbon composites increases in the primary and secondary structures of aircraft, so does the need for multifunctionality of the materials. This category of materials is typically function-added, which includes electrically conductive composites for EMI shielding, equivalent electric baseline for multi-material systems as well as the lightning strike protection, fire retardation and protection, noise reduction and thermal managements etc. A further development will be the use of natural (green) materials to partially replace the fossil-sourced materials. This presentation will report new concepts to make the high-performance structural composites typically used in aerospace industry multifunctional by nano-structured technologies, and, the latest development of bio-sourced materials for secondary and interior structures for GREEN aviation applications.
Smart Manufacturing – What’s Up? Paths to Progress and Collaboration
Featured Speaker: Denise Swink, Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC), CEO
Smart Manufacturing” has evolved from a term of “what” in 2009 to being known in many other expressions, now, and being embraced in world-wide manufacturing as the key to internalizing the digital revolution into not only new, but also, legacy manufacturing assets, supply chains and systems. The journey to embracing requires cultural, organizational, technological and business model changes, integrated in tandem. The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition and the public/private partnership with Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy establishing the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) are non-biased resources available to collaborate with in your journey. This session will share perspectives on “Smart Manufacturing”, best practices on journeys and opportunities to collaborate.
Repair of Composite Structures and Composites as a Repair Solution
Moderator: Mike Hoke, Abaris, President
Panelists:
- Gary Kanaby, WindCom, General Manager
- Mohamed Azdomou, Boeing
- Edward Harris, Heatcon Composites, Materials & Processing Engineer
- Jeff Beck, P.E., Fyfe, Senior Business Development Manager
While advanced composites offer the lightweight-high strength solution for many engineered applications, they offer a challenge when the need to repair a composite structure arises and at the same time composites offer a unique solution to the repair of non-composite structures. The Panel will provide an overview of composite repair as well as insights into the repair of windmill turbine blades, thermoplastic composite structures and the use of composites in infrastructure and architectural applications including bridges, buildings , etc.
Aerospace Advanced Materials Selection – Cost, Schedule, and Maturity Considerations
Featured Speaker: Edward Gerding, P.E.
Mr. Gerding will discuss how, why and when advanced materials are or are not selected for use throughout the aerospace product development cycle. Using examples from Boeing’s product lines, he will explain the program challenges faced at different points in the design cycle where advanced materials either became the solution or could not be used. In providing his insights, Mr. Gerding hopes the advanced materials and process communities will work to resolve those past challenges for future development of Boeing’s fleets and prototypes.
