Automated Fibre Placement for thermoplastic high-performance structures
Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Production steps of a CFRP rotor blade: organic sheet, formed blank, final blade contour after finishing
Construction of the counter-rotating fan with fan blades made of thermoplastic CFRP
CAD model of an engine structure
Simulation of the deformation of a rotor
Slat of a commercial aircraft in thermoplastic CFRP construction
The Component Design and Manufacturing Technologies department develops monolithic and hybrid lightweight structures and the corresponding manufacturing processes for aircraft, spacecraft and for road and rail vehicles.
For future generations of aircraft, for example, the engineers are developing new lightweight construction concepts for high-lift structures such as wings or tail units and for engine structures. These include the development of innovative designs for the laminarisation of tailplane components or the development of new high-performance compressors in collaboration with other DLR institutes.
These developments are based on thermoset and thermoplastic fibre composites and metals. Building on this, the department develops closed process chains - from design and quality assurance to production technologies that can be automated. This is done in cooperation with the Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) in Augsburg. In Stuttgart, the component is developed and the manufacturing technology defined. The specific production technology is developed in Augsburg.