If you would like to find out more about this technology, we invite you to attend the conference being led by the Executive Vice-President of Applus+ Laboratories, Jordi Brufau, at 11 am on Thursday 14th March at JEC World in Paris. You can also come to see us in the Aeroplanet, where our team of experts will be demonstrating the A+ Glide Forming technology and can provide you with further information about this new forming process.
Conference abstract:
A+ GLIDE FORMING TECHNOLOGY: APPLICATIONS & INDUSTRIALIZATION (AUTOMATED & CONTINUOUS STRINGER MANUFACTURING PROCESS)
New composite airplane structures are made out of panels reinforced with stringers. Typical fuselage stringers are omega sections and T sections that tend to be used in the wings. Stringers are usually long, narrow parts. Fuselage stringers can measure between 4 and 12 meters length and wing stringers up to 40 meters in a large airplane.
A+ Glide Forming technology has been developed to form, in one shot, long and curved stringers, from flat full thickness pre-preg lay-ups made on Automated Tape Lay-up (ATL) or Advanced Fiber Placement (AFP) machines. This innovative technology can be used to form curved stringers with different sections, lengths, thicknesses and curvatures using one single machine that accepts different tools. The technology reduces both recurrent and non-recurrent costs and provides better quality in comparison with other existing production methods. The system is mature for Thermosets pre-pregs and dry-preforms. Thermoplastics applications are available at prototype stages. This presentation will describe the method of manufacturing complex stringers and the possible industrial applications.