Automated production of aircraft fuselages made of aluminium fibreglass laminate

The Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, the Institute of Structures and Design, the Institute of Materials Research and the Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) - at its locations in Stade and Augsburg - of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) have teamed up to develop automated processes for the production of components made of high-performance fibre metal laminates. Funded within the framework of the German Aviation Research Programme (LuFo), the ProfiRumpf project by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has, for the first time, succeeded in the production of double-curved fuselage segments from aluminium fibreglass laminate in assured quality using coordinated robot technology. "We have developed and tested automated and quality-assured processes for the production of large-surface fuselage sections made of FML. Not only did we achieve the required output rates for future aircraft models, we also ensured highly precise, reproducible quality," says chief project manager Hakan Ucan from the DLR Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems.
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