Composites Solutions

Creating the 2D preform, or “stack”, is an important first step in manufacturing carbon fiber parts. Manual methods to produce stacks are time and labor-intensive. Also, single tape placement is slow.  At Voith, we developed an automated preforming system to optimize this process. The Voith Roving Applicator (VRA) revolutionizes preform creation through digitized automation and multiple tape placement including product-specific local reinforcements.

The fixation line before the VRA binds dry carbon fiber into 50mm wide tapes using heat and binding powder. These unidirectional carbon fiber tapes are fed into the VRA placement head. This places up to four tapes in parallel down to a tailored preform. The computer-controlled and autonomous process uses a 360° rotating table and four independent grippers capable of simultaneous multi-axis movement. This enables precise, rapid layup of near-net shape preforms.

Advanced software control allows the VRA to achieve excellent repeatability and material utilization efficiency across all lot sizes. After preforming, the parts undergo resin injection and curing via RTM molding. Final machining like milling and drilling prepares the finished part.

By digitizing the entire process, the VRA maximizes output speed and part quality consistency. Real-time monitoring provides process data to enable continuous refinements. This pioneering automation brings carbon fiber composite production into the future. 

To increase production and time efficiency, we upgraded the VRA with integrated pre-impregnation capabilities. The VRA NextGen already impregnates the carbon fiber tapes with resin during the first binding step in the fixation line. This creates prepreg tapes that can feed directly into the automated tape placement process. By eliminating secondary impregnation, the VRA NextGen optimizes production. Preforms produced in this way, which are already impregnated with resin, are known as prepreg stacks. The prepreg stacks skip the RTM process and move directly to heat and pressure curing. Finishing includes contour milling and drilling. The assembly of add-on parts completes the ready-to-install component.

Traditional “wet” filament winding is a common method for making cylindrical composite parts. Watch our video - How to produce a CFRP roll - for further explanation.

Our specialized TowPreg winding technology improves this process for manufacturing high-pressure CFRP tanks. From the efficient, economical use of fibers and resin to the ingenious winding patterns/layers and faster and precise winding. As a result, our tanks achieve an outstanding high H₂ capacity with optimized tank geometry and lower weight. This saves space and allows you to store more hydrogen or achieve a greater range with the H₂ vehicle on land and water.

Composites 4.0 represents the optimization and industrialization of composites production. The term builds on the concept of Industry 4.0 - the push towards automation and digitization in manufacturing. Composites 4.0 applies these principles to reach peak quality and efficiency in composite materials production. In essence, Composites 4.0 combines technology, engineering, material science, and manufacturing processes. This allows us to provide economic and technological advantages to our customers, along with customization and scalability for large-scale production runs. As part of a 155-year-old tech company and the ultimate experts and pioneers in the field of composites every day we live and optimize these processes to ensure our customer’s best and flawless quality, optimized cost-performance ratio and carefree use of carbon fiber composites.