The site visit gives you a rare glimpse into the aerospace composites industry in the Iberian Peninsula, with a special focus on Airbus' manufacturing efforts in Illesca.
Aerial view of Illesca, Spain, showing the old pointed white roof Airbus facility in the foreground, with the new A350 project building (flat top) in the background. In the upper left corner of the aerial photo, the adjacent Aernnova plant (above) is in the back.
Aernnova plant.
At the FIDAMC studio, the mill's MTorres fiber placement machine places the fibers on a flat, vertical die to demonstrate the speed and precision of the machine head.
FIDAMC's ATL machines are productive with a large working range and a high gantry.
Aernnova installed an MTorres ATL machine, close to the stacking table and an adjacent heat press, for the production of tail girder parts.
At Airbus' Illescas A350 underwing skinning plant, an MTorres ATL machine lays material for a part.
Cured A350 wing panels are subjected to automated non-destructive testing in their fixtures.
Although the mention of Spain may conjure up images of sunshine, olive groves, tapas, and Rioja wines, it should also be reminiscent of a thriving center for advanced materials and aerospace manufacturing. According to a 2009 study on the European aerospace industry funded by the European Commission and compiled by Ecorys in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the country's aerospace sector grew by 12.5% annually between 2001 and 2008, employing more than 15,000 people by then. Founded in the same year, the Spanish trading group TEDAE (Asociación Española de Empresas Tecnológicas de Defensa, Aeronáutica y Espacio) has more than 70 member companies and a total turnover of 8 billion euros (US$11.2 billion). Spain's aerospace sector is still on the rise, driven by strong R&D investment.
Fly early
Like many other countries, around 1900, Spain ushered in the age of aviation, generating great interest and many entrepreneurial efforts. One of the first aviation companies in Spain, today it is one of the cornerstones of the Spanish aviation industry. José Ortiz de Echaugue, the first Spaniard to fly a military aircraft, was reported to have founded the Sociedad Anónima Airlines (CASA) in 1923 along with several colleagues. CASA has built a production plant in Getafe, near Madrid, to build military aircraft, perhaps best known for its C212 Aviocar STOL-short takeoff and landing light transport aircraft, which is still in production today.
CASA produced military aircraft and components during and after World War II, many of which were produced under licensing agreements from other OEMs. In the mid-60s of the 20th century, European aircraft companies and their governments began to explore a cooperation agreement to produce commercial aircraft capable of competing with commercial aircraft carriers manufactured by Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed. The result was that Airbus Industrie was founded on 18 December 1970 as an economic group (economic interest group) with an equitable distribution of production between France, Germany and the United Kingdom. CASA joined the group in October 1971 and owns a 4.2% stake in Airbus Industrial. In 2000, with the development of the Airbus A300 and subsequent aircraft models, CASA became one of the founding partners of EADS (European Aeronautical Defence and Aerospace) along with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Aerospatiale Matra. EADS owns Airbus and other entities, including Eurocopter and Astrium, the space launch company.
At the heart of Spain's aerospace manufacturing industry, EADS CASA has grown to become a major supplier of project components to Airbus, Eurocopter, Eurofighter and others, based in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Cádiz, with a focus on composites. Its success has given rise to a large number of small primary and secondary component manufacturers with expertise in composites, including Aernnova composites (Vitoria), Sener (Madrid), SACESA (Seville) and TECNALIA (San Sebastián).
Composites manufacturing activities are spread across the country. For example, the final assembly of the Airbus military A400M takes place in San Pablo, near Seville, where Toledo is home to the Airbus Center for Advanced Composites. HPC had the opportunity to visit the area near Madrid, visiting three key facilities: FIDAMC (an acronym for its Spanish name, which translates to the Foundation for Research, Development and Applications of Composites in English), the Airbus facility in Illescas and the adjacent Aernnova composites plant.
Visit 1: Regional Research Center
Located in a greenfield area known as the South Technology Zone in the south of Madrid, close to Getafe and Eliscas, FIDAMC is a world-class R&D facility. Completed in 2009, the Foundation has over 5,500 sqm / 59,200 sq ft of office, laboratory and workshop space, built by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, the Government of the Region of Madrid and the EADS.
An agreement signed in March 2006 to continue the Foundation is the result of the Spanish Government's belief in the strategic importance of the aerospace sector and the need for a centre of excellence for the study of industrial applications in composite materials. Jacinto Tortosa Lozano, Director General of FIDAMC, said that the total initial funding for construction and equipment amounted to €26 million (US$37 million), provided by EADS, the Spanish Government's Centre for Industrial Technology Development (CDTI) and the Delhi Regional Government. "Our goal is to strengthen and consolidate Spain's leading position in the field of composites through technology transfer with organizations across the country, including our universities," he said. ” 。“ One of our main strategic goals is to drastically reduce the cost of composite parts. Lozano added that the innovations developed by FIDAMC are not owned by the Foundation, but they are protected through non-disclosure agreements with participating aerospace companies, including Airbus Military, Airbus SAS, Eurocopter and others.
Garcia, key account manager at MTorres (Pamplona, Spain), said that while the recent financial crisis has dragged down the center's momentum, an impressive array of automation equipment has been installed so far. "It's a slow start, but it's growing," he noted. "Several qualification projects for Airbus aircraft are underway, and this is an opportunity to test new composite concepts. We can use these machines ourselves for product development, and FIDAMC allows member companies time to test materials and concepts on the machines. ”
MACHINES INSTALLED TO DATE INCLUDE THE TORRESFIBERLAYUP AUTOMATED FIBER LAYING (AFP) MACHINE AND WORKSTATION WITH 24 TOW LAYING HEADS AND THE USE OF 0.125"/2.2 MM SLIT TAPE FOR MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY IN THE PRODUCTION OF CONTOURED PARTS IN AN R&D ENVIRONMENT (WIDER TAPES ARE OFTEN USED IN PRODUCTION). During the facility tour, the head was configured to lay the fibers on a flat, vertically oriented metal tool to lay the tow at high speeds, reportedly 60m/195 ft/min in one direction, and then rotate 180° on the return path while a heated roller on the head consolidated each prepreg layer. Garcia explained that the head design prevents the tows from interfering with each other during rotation and layup. He added that the carbon material was provided free of charge by Hearst (Hexcel (Illescas, Spain and Stamford, Connecticut) in exchange for them testing prepreg billet products using machines.
The large workstation is equipped with a headstock, tailstock and a mobile platform for multiple tool setups, and its main features include a tensioning system for polyester prepreg backing tape. The system shreds the tape and blows it into a separate collection chamber for recycling. Garcia points out that the tow guidance system, from the cooled prepreg creel area to the machine head, is designed for very low friction to minimize any contact of the carbon fiber with the machine parts and prevent fluffing. TORFIBER IS THE COMPANY'S SIMULATION SOFTWARE THAT ALLOWS DESIGNERS TO SIMULATE AND ANALYZE PART PROGRAMS IN A CATIA ENVIRONMENT BEFORE THE COMPUTER'S POST-PROCESSOR GENERATES THE CNC PROGRAM. According to Manu Motilva, AFP product manager at MTorres, the company is working with FIDAMC to develop a new type of laser-heated thermoplastic laying head. The new head should be installed on the machine in mid-2012 for testing thermoplastic composite parts.
AT THE OTHER END OF THE HUGE BUILDING IS A TORRESLAYUP 11-AXIS HIGH-SPEED GANTRY AUTOMATIC TAPE LAYING MACHINE WITH A VERY LARGE WORKING ENVELOPE MEASURING 12.5 METERS LONG AND 5.4 METERS (40.6 FEET, 17.6 FEET WIDE). Garcia says the machine has the highest compaction capacity in the industry, eliminating the need for frequent bagging/unloading steps.
The ATL can be used to lay slit tapes up to 12 in./300 mm wide and is designed for the rapid production of flat to medium profile parts. Two ultrasonic knives cut the prepreg blank during operation, and the head also has a built-in tape defect detection system.
An adjoining large workshop is equipped with a 6m diameter autoclave made by Dalkia EspañA (Madrid, Spain), as well as a smaller autoclave and a walk-in oven. Installed in the same space is a gantry non-destructive testing (NDI) C-scan cell manufactured by Tecnatom (Madrid, Spain), a well-known industry supplier. FIDAMC says the single-channel phased array machine is just the beginning, and the company plans to install additional NDI capabilities as work unfolds at the center.
The tour also includes a fully equipped materials laboratory, design space and comfortable meeting rooms with huge windows overlooking ancient olive trees in the outdoor garden.
Lozano said FIDAMC's equipment will eventually support parts production, reporting that the plant is already adding staff as work increases. When asked if thermoplastic composites are the future of Spanish aerospace, he retorted: "It's not a critical question. It's important that we accelerate the pace of innovation, no matter what the material is—and we need to think about new composites that are less expensive and time-consuming to make. There is a lot of pressure to improve and develop the industry. ”
Visit 2: Top Tier 1 Suppliers
Just two months before HPC's visit, Aernnova Composites officially opened its new sparkling 33,000 square meter facility, adjacent to the back of HPC's third destination, a large Airbus factory that manufactures the underwing skins of the A350 XWB aircraft. Aernnova Composites started in 1986 as a subcontractor from manufacturing to printing at CASA, but now it is the composites business unit of Aernnov Aerospace and the largest primary structural aerospace manufacturer in Spain, operating four composite material plants in Spain and another under construction across the Atlantic in Mexico. Jose Antonio Villares, who was responsible for the construction of its new state-of-the-art facility in Illescas, which uses lean automated manufacturing techniques to produce parts for many projects, said: "We have a lot of experience in aerospace carbon fiber structures that span more than 25 years. ” 。
In fact, Aernnova's composites customer list includes Airbus (commercial and military), Embraer, Bombardier, Sikorsky, Eurocopter, Eurofighter, Alenia, Agusta Westland and EADS Sogerma. A wide variety of parts, from the tail, horizontal tail, rudder and elevator, to the leading and trailing edges and hatches, are handled by hand stacking and automatically, such as ATL. It also produces parts for industrial customers, including train interior parts and filament-wound carbon fiber rollers for Madrid-based Talgo and Bombardier (Montreal, Quebec, Canada). With ISO9001, ISO14001 and Nadcap certifications, the company is a significant international company and a risk-sharing partner for the Airbus A350 XWB.
During the visit, two MTorres TORRESLAYUP machines were installed and operational. As production demand increases, four companies will eventually join. VILLARES POINTS OUT THAT ONE OF THE GANTRY ATL CONFIGURATIONS HAS TWO WORK AREAS, ONE WITH A FLAT PLATE CONTAINING THE TORRESPANEX ULTRASONIC CUTTER AND THE OTHER FOR DIRECT PLACEMENT ON THE TOOL. With this setup, which can be customized for trusses, skins, stiffeners, ribs, or spars, the machine can perform two separate tasks at the same time, greatly increasing productivity.
Following the setup during the tour, the ATL laying head quickly lays the truss material onto the slab, and the machine sends the laid material to the cutter in a matter of seconds, which cuts the truss shape from the green laminate blank. The stringers are then formed in a thermoforming machine, which is one of the three stringers that are finally installed and used with aluminum tools. Villares noted that there are two tables at the hot pressing position. "Workers can prepare tools and laminate materials on one table," he says, "while the other table participates in the thermoforming process to maximize the productivity of the machine." ”
Another flat cutter from Lectra (Paris, France) cuts wide goods in the clean room. Villares said that the first of the three autoclaves was installed, a container with a diameter of 5 meters made by Olmar (Zeon, Spain), and two more in the near future. A phased array pulse-echo NDI station from GE Inspection Technologies LP (Lewiston, PA) is also used for part inspection.
Much of the large manufacturing space is occupied by a large number of tools and dies, most of which are made of Invar alloys, which are used to manufacture a wide variety of parts, including rudders, horizontal tails and elevators for the A350 XWB, as well as subassemblies for the Bombardier CSeries central wing box. During the tour, workers are assembling the A350 spherical frame, dividing it into two parts (front and rear) for layering and curing. "We don't do post-trimming here," Villares points out. ” 。“ This was done by DeltaIllescas in one of our nearby buildings. ”
The new facility will create at least 500 skilled jobs in the region, and Villares is looking forward to future expansion. "Castilla-La Mancha is one of Spain's five autonomous communities with a focus on the aerospace industry. With the support of our government, we are committed to developing lean composites manufacturing expertise. ”
参观 3:照亮 Illescas(伊利塞 斯 卡)
José Manuel Santos-Gómez, who is in charge of machinery and automation at Airbus, said: "This is where we make difficult composite parts. "Illescas is Airbus' centre of excellence for advanced carbon composite parts," he emphasises, "where we produce large and complex shapes. ”
Illescas' original 59,000 square meter factory was established in 1989 to produce horizontal tail components for all Airbus models, which has grown to 107,000 square meters to produce components for Airbus A330/340, A320, A380, A350 and Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. Adjacent to the original factory, a new building houses the A350 XWB lower wing skinning fabrication work. The plant's more than 500 employees use lean manufacturing practices and make up a large percentage of the composite work done by Airbus.
There is a strong emphasis on automation, and lean topics apply not only to part manufacturing, but also to tooling, part, and material handling, for example, using automated tool carts and conveyor systems. Santos-Gómez says: "Manual laying and manual labor are no longer effective for productivity. ” 。“ In some cases, our machines operate in four shifts, essentially around the clock, to maximize production. "And the number of machines involved is not insignificant. They are manufactured by a number of suppliers with different ages, including ATL and AFP machines. There are more orders for the A350 project. All the machines, plus multiple autoclaves, are busy around the clock. Automatic trimming/cutting systems are also being used, including a waterjet cutting unit for post-mold part finishing. Several automatic NDI units were also installed.
In the older part of the plant, ATL and AFP machines used carbon/epoxy prepregs manufactured by Hexcel at its nearby plant in Illescas to produce tail parts for the A330/340, A320 and A380. Santos-Gomes points out that while the material is stacked in the Invar tool at one end of the machine's work envelope, workers are preparing another tool to be stacked at the other end to minimize changeover downtime. Since most parts involve stiffener trusses or ribs, an automatic overhead crane is used to move the stiffener tools out of the warehouse (in the shelves above the floor) and down to the workshop floor for stacking. The same system then transports the laminated tools to the hot cover cloth forming machine. The "bogie" installation, designed by Airbus Illescas, hangs from the ceiling like a barrel with longitudinal grooves, about 1.8 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters in length. The bracket secures the formed (but not cured) stiffeners in the correct stacking order in the slot above the table. As it rotates, it deposits the stiffeners on the layered part skin on the work surface, significantly reducing assembly time. The placed stiffeners are then bagged and co-cured with the skin, eliminating the post-curing bonding step. As part of the company's lean and eco-friendly manufacturing, lamination technicians use reusable silicone bags for most of the process, significantly reducing the use of consumables.
The 19th segment of the A350, the fuselage tail cone, was produced using a dedicated autoclave in the new area of the original building. In the tail cone process, a series of "Ω" stringers (shaped like the Greek letter "Ω" with a trapezoidal profile) are produced by MTorres ATL machines, which are equipped with an upward head at one end and an automatic ultrasonic cutting head at the other. The ATL head quickly lays a set of stringer material, nested to reduce waste, forming a prepreg "blanket". Within seconds, the conveyor transports the blanket to the cutter, which cuts and trims it into the final truss shape. The cutter head and tool work at the same time, which significantly increases the productivity of the ATL. The cut stringers are manually transported onto a metal press equipped with appropriate tools. The part is then shaped and placed in a longitudinal groove around the circumference of the 19th section aluminum mandrel tool, so that the truss is flush with the tool surface. Rubber inserts are placed inside the hollow "caps" of each truss to exert reinforcing knot pressure, which is bagged and vacuum-consolidated. The MAG Cincinnati (Hebron, Kentucky) AFP machine then automatically lays the skin on the prepared trusses, and the entire part is bagged and cured in one go.
After curing and demolding, the parts are transferred to a dresser for processing, then to an automated NDI machine for inspection before being prepared for shipment to Airbus' final assembly sites, including nearby Getafe; Toulouse, France; and Hamburg, Germany. "We have a tremendous amount of flexibility here to accommodate the manufacture of a variety of different composite parts," Santos Gomez said. ”
However, the centerpiece of the facility is its new A350 lower wing siding production building. According to Santos-Gomes, more than 450 million euros ($637 million) have been invested in this huge space (18,000 square meters) to achieve nearly 100% automated manufacturing processes. "This underwing skin is quite complex, ranging from 6 millimeters [0.2 inches] to 30 millimeters [1.15 inches]."
A specially designed, automated cart transports a wing skinning tool made of Invar steel manufactured by Coast Composites, Inc. (Irvine, CA) to an ATL workstation at one end of the building – space for eight workstations, but one is running and the other is in preparation at the time of HPC access. The ATL machine is a TORRESLAYUP unit. The 35-meter/115-foot skin was laid out and cured in a huge autoclave built by Dalkia España.
Wing truss production takes place on the other side of the building, which is dominated by a large number of truss tools, heat presses, MTorres AFP machines and overhead gantry transport systems. According to Motilva, the AFP machine quickly lays down bundles of fibers according to a CNC nesting plan that minimizes waste, forming complex two-dimensional near-net-shaped stringers, the longest of which is 35 meters/115 feet long. "We can save a small fraction of the carbon prepreg per stringer, but multiply that by 25 stringers per wing skin for 13 aircraft per month, the reduction in scrap is significant and significantly reduces the overall cost of the stringers." A large mobile gantry system with pick-and-place functionality that automatically transports each stacked truss to its assigned tool, removes the tool from the heat press, and then moves the formed truss to the cured wing skin for application. According to Airbus, the automated wing skinning production process will use more than 800 metric tons (1.8 million pounds) of carbon fiber per year at the plant's maximum production rate.
After the stringers have been applied to the wing skin and bagged, the wing skin is solidified again and then moved to the finishing room, where the necessary trimming is performed by Flow International Corp. (Kent, Washington)'s water spray system while the wing skin is fixed in a unique fixture. Santos-Gomez says the next NDI step is done all at once, as what he describes as a "better way" to perform an inspection scan has significantly improved the speed of scanning. Before being prepared for transport to the UK for assembly, additional compartments handle final inspections (as well as any cosmetic repairs) and painting.
Santos-Gómez concludes: "I believe this is probably the largest purpose-built composite manufacturing plant in the world, and certainly the most automated.
原文见，《 The Plane in Spain 》2012.1.2
Chaofan Yang 2024.6.27