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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6
1 0
TESTING | CHARACTERIZATION
REAL-TIME, AUTOMATED LAYUP
INSPECTION TAKES OFF
The Defense Logistics Agency
(DLA) awarded a contract to Flightware
Inc., Guilford, Conn., to develop a real-
time, automated inspection system for
use with Automated Fiber Placement
(AFP) equipment that makes large
composite parts. The capability allows
these machines to operate signifi-
cantly faster, enabling cost savings and
increased production. Most large and
high-rate composite aircraft structures
are built using AFP machines. While
these machines quickly place material
into a mold, the operation is stopped
after every ply to allow human inspec-
tors to validate the machine layup. This
is repeated dozens to hundreds of times
for a single part. In many cases, the
time to inspect the layup by teams of
workers with flashlights is longer than
the machine layup time. As a result,
machines are only productive less than
30% of the time.
Flightware’s Real Time Automated
Ply Inspection (RTAPI) program builds
AFP layup flaws are displayed against the programmed layup, color-coded by
feature type for rapid disposition and rework. Courtesy of Flightware.
studying how stress and fatigue cause
microscopic damage to form in metal
components. That knowledge will then
be translated into new tools to detect
and monitor crack formation in aircraft
components. Funding comes from the
U.S. Army Research Office through the
Defense University Research Instru-
mentation Program (DURIP).
The team will conduct testing and
characterization studies to understand
andmonitor how tiny cracks are initiated
and then grow in metal components as
they are subjected to cyclic strains and
stresses similar to those that wings, fuse-
lages, and other aircraft components
experience in service. Using a new imag-
ing system, researchers are able to view
the initiation and propagation of cracks
at the nanometer scale while metal
samples are stressed in a servo-hydrau-
lic testing machine. As a result of this
research, the team aims to develop new
lightweight metal alloys that are more
resistant to cracking.
wpi.edu.
on work previously performed under
a development contract with NASA.
Using commercial sensors and custom
software, AFP layups are scanned and
compared with programmed instruc-
tions created from the part model.
Deviations in excess of allowed toler-
ances are automatically detected and
presented to operators for repair.
The first generation Automated
Ply Inspection (API) system consists
of hardware and software designed to
operate in a secondary inspection step
after layup, mimicking today’s human
inspection process. Under the DLA pro-
gram, API is being modified to work in
real time, in parallel with layup being
produced by the AFP machine in real
time. The new system eliminates the
serial inspection step, enabling cost
savings on a wide variety of military and
civilian aircraft parts.
dla.mil.
WPI INVESTIGATES AIRCRAFT
CRACK FORMATION
A research team at Worcester
Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Mass., is
BRIEF
LECO Corp.,
St. Joseph, Mich., recently opened its European Appli-
cation and Technology Center in Berlin. The facility is equipped with
the latest LECO analytical technology, with nearly 25 instruments
available for customer demonstrations and application work. The
facility also features lecture rooms for training employees and cus-
tomers.
leco.com.
Professor Diana Lados (right) and Ph.D.
candidate Anthony Spangenberger an-
alyze deformation results from a fatigue
damage evaluation test performed on
an aircraft aluminum alloy.