FEATURE NEWS:
New ‘laying’ technique from Tajima
There are many different techniques used in industry to strengthen textile structures with fibre composites.
Says Tajima: “Such textile constructions can
be woven, interlaced, knitted or plaited. However we now have a completely new technique; the ‘laying’ of fibre composites.” With this new laying technique, calculations relating to stress points or areas of tension can be converted effectively and integrated into any textile structure.
These structures are then made up of fibre, which is laid in various orientations following a pattern. The pattern will determine the sequence or route of the fibre-laying, and thereby the number of layers necessary in various areas of
the structure.
This technique is effected on the new Tajima T01 carbon fibre laying machine. Production on these special machines is carried out automatically at laying speeds
of 500–800 stitches/minute.
This translates to approximately 1.2kg material per hour, per laying head, depending on the thickness of the fibre strand.
A special frame-change system allows the automatic changing of the (base) material onto which the fibre is laid. The machine is available with up to 30 production heads, meaning that up to 30 identical pieces can be produced simultaneously
on a single production run.
Tajima states: “By using this technique, it is possible to produce a pre-form with nearly no waste material. The almost complete use of the carbon roving represents a noticeable reduction in material costs and also takes care of the problem of
residuals and cut-offs.”
Another cited advantage of this technique is the high ‘reproducibility’ (the ability to reproduce an identical piece). The repro-ducibility of the cord-laying is +/– 0.3mm. At present, a final thickness of up to 8mm is achievable on any one structure. It is impossible to have missing pieces in the structure.
Because of strategically placed sensors controlling the thread tension, it is also impossible for the machine heads to become twisted.
The programming of the laying machine is carried out by using the special digitising system. Similar to a CAD-system, the digitising program can read in vector files of the shape/structure and translate the shape into a data file for the machine.
Company: |
Tajima GmbH |
Country: |
Germany |
Fax: |
+49 7577-75-75 |
Email: |
|
Website: |
www.tajima.de |