Big Moves for Automatic Fiber Placement Systems

Electroimpact is an established world leader in the design and manufacturing of aerospace tooling and automation. It’s wide range of projects include complete automation assembly systems for commercial aircraft wings, riveting machines with tools for wing panel and fuselage assembly, both robotic and machined-based automatic fiber placement systems (AFPs), robotic drilling and assembly systems, and spacecraft handling equipment.

Used to produce large and complex composite parts for companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer and NASA, AFP systems are highly technical and complex. Electroimpact continuously seeks to challenge current benchmarks and improve its machine designs, and in 2016 they achieved a quantum leap in performance, scale and precision of the AFP technology, with WITTENSTEIN Galaxie® system.

ULTRA DYNAMICS & ROTATION

ULTRA DYNAMICS & ROTATION

Working closely with Electroimpact, WITTENSTEIN engineers worked to update an AFP machine design with the Galaxie®. The results were profound – increased productivity, reduced stress on machine components, and increased positioning accuracy making it possible to produce large parts like aircraft wing spars and skins in a single piece.

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ONE SINGLE STEP, EXPONENTIAL RESULTS

ONE SINGLE STEP, EXPONENTIAL RESULTS

Only one step is required – as opposed to three in the past – to make the forward and rear wing spars, which are up to 33.5 meters long. A modular AFP head weighing about 500kg is integrated with a mobile gantry structure 6 meters wide for this purpose.

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THE NEXT GAME-CHANGER IN AFP: SERVO CREEL HEADS

THE NEXT GAME-CHANGER IN AFP: SERVO CREEL HEADS

Like WITTENSTEIN, the drive to innovate is constant at Electroimpact. After developing the aforementioned ultra-dynamic AFP machines, the next opportunity for improvement lay within the modular AFP heads.

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These machines are a quantum step in performance from our past efforts. The cool thing is that ... "


Todd Rudberg, Director of AFP, Electroimpact

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