NEXT-GEN

MATERIALS AND
PROCESSES

NOVEMBER 2020
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT

COLUMNS FEATURES
2 Table of Contents 6 Automated aerocomposites production:
4 From the Editor
Liquid molding or welded thermoplastic?
Two materials and process approaches are demonstrated for CFRP
bulkhead production.
By Ginger Gardiner

10 Reprocessable thermosets and

thermoplastic epoxies:
An expanding landscape
New chemistries give thermosets new, thermoplastic-like versatility.
10 By Hannah Mason

12 Combining AFP with 3D printing for

flexible parts production
Electroimpact creates a multifunctional manufacturing cell for complex,
aero-quality continuous fiber composite parts.
By Ginger Gardiner

18 Next-generation composites qualification

12 Fully digital qualification hasn’t yet arrived, but simulation and analysis
software continue to evolve and work together with physical testing practices.
By Hannah Mason

20 Bridging the gap between CFRP and CMC

Novel composites offer performance up to 1,000°C with faster processing.
By Ginger Gardiner

22 22 Moving forward on the Multifunctional

Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD)
Clean Sky 2’s MFFD program continues to move toward its goal of delivering
a welded, thermoplastic composite fuselage demonstrator using next-
generation manufacturing processes.
By Hannah Mason

24 3D printing with continuous fiber:

A landscape
28 Growth continues in suppliers, part size, production volume and markets.
By Ginger Gardiner and Hannah Mason

» ON THE COVER 28 Carbon fiber in pressure vessels for

DLR demonstrates an automated process hydrogen storage
for an A350 rear pressure bulkhead (RPB) Emerging H2 economy drives tank development for aircraft,
using dry CF fabric and resin infusion. ships and gas transport.
(main photo). Underneath, left to right: By Ginger Gardiner
SCRAM cell printing a bay door demonstra-
tor, glass-ceramic matrix part with high-
temperature performance, robot-based
continuous ultrasonic welding for the MFFD.
Sources | German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of
Structures and Design (main photo); left to right:
Electroimpact, Pyromeral, DLR

2 NOVEMBER 2020
FASTER
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT

From the Editor

The composites industry likes the term “next-generation.” We use it to

describe fighter jets, commercial aircraft, cars, trucks, software, raw materials
and manufacturing processes. Next-generation implies creativity, innovation,
novelty and forward-thinking. It also implies that the past is being left behind,
along with all of the “old” ways of doing things. Such bipolarity can lead to
some simplistic thinking — that composites history is antiquated and useless,
while the next-generation-filled future is full of nothing but promise and hope. 
CW might even be guilty of some of this thinking, given that we have titled this supplement
“Next-Generation Materials and Processes.” Our intent was that we would shed light on some
of the materials and process technologies that likely will be leveraged by composites fabricators
being tasked with meeting the high-quality, high-
rate standards that are and will be set by the indus-
As I see it, it is clear that the try’s customers over the next decade. 
By that standard, we have a fair collection of
technologies leading us
stories here, covering additive manufacturing, ther-
into the future are firmly moplastics, reprocessable thermosets, ceramic matrix
rooted in the past. composites, large aerostructures, virtual qualification
and hydrogen storage.
But a funny thing happens when you are tasked with
thinking about the materials and processes that represent the next generation of composites
manufacturing: That bright line separating the antiquated past and the sparkling future gets
pretty fuzzy pretty quickly. It becomes very difficult to point to a given material or process and
declare it definitively in the past or in the future. 
Take, for example, liquid resin infusion. Is this a next-generation process? No, it’s been used
in composites manufacturing for decades. But it’s being used today to produce large aerostruc-
tures and is a serious contender for high-rate manufacturing of single-aisle commercial aircraft.
Doesn’t that qualify it as next-generation?
The truth is that the innovation the composites industry employs to create the next genera-
tion of materials and processes does not depend on developing something new and different, but
adapting proven technologies to serve highly dynamic and demanding applications. And this is
possible because composites materials and processes themselves are dynamic and highly adapt-
able — in many ways ideally suited to meet the fast-evolving needs of airframers, carmakers, boat-
builders, wind turbine manufacturers and much more. 
Because of this, it sometimes seems like CW is constantly reporting on next-generation mate-
rials and processes. However, none of these applications involves use of materials and processes
that do not have a long history in the composites industry. Instead, they all demonstrate a
concerted, creative effort to design and apply these materials and processes with greater efficiency
and greater quality. And if that is the definition of “next generation” — efficiency with quality —
that’s a good thing. In any case, it is clear that the technologies leading us into the future are firmly
rooted in the past, and that is how it should be.

-Jeff Sloan, Editor-in-Chief, CompositesWorld

4 NOVEMBER 2020
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Automated aerocomposites production:
Liquid molding or welded
thermoplastic?
Two materials and process approaches are
demonstrated for CFRP bulkhead production.
By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Editor
»As OEMs and suppliers explore the materials and
processes that will enable the next generation of
aircraft, both liquid molding and thermoplastics are
being demonstrated. Liquid molding of dry fiber is
seen, for example, in Spirit AeroSystem’s (Prestwick,
Scotland) high-rate resin transfer molding (RTM)
line for Airbus A320 spoilers and also in the Airbus-
led Wing of Tomorrow (WOT) program, which uses
automated placement of noncrimp fabrics (NCF) and
resin infusion, followed by out-of-autoclave (OOA)
cure in an oven (see Learn More).
Meanwhile, thermoplastic composites (TPC) are
featured in the Clean Sky  Multifunctional Fuselage
Demonstrator (MFFD), where stiffened skins are
created using automated fiber placement — autoclave-
consolidated for the lower half and in-situ consolida-
tion for the upper half — followed by assembly via
welding (see article, p. ). These programs use auto-
mation to increase production rate and quality while
reducing cost. But how do they compare?
6 NOVEMBER 2020
Automation of RPB structures via two very
different approaches
The DLR Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) has
demonstrated an automated process for an A350 rear pressure
bulkhead (RPB) using dry CF fabric (left) and resin infusion with
Hexcel’s RTM6 epoxy. In a separate project, eight “petal” sections
were press-formed from CF/PPS organosheet and ZLP used
automated resistance welding to form an A320 RPB (Fig. 2, p. 8).
Source | German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Structures and Design
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of
Structures and Design operates the Center for Light-
weight Production Technology (ZLP) in Augsburg.
Among its many composites manufacturing projects,
PROTEC NSR and Fast Lane RPB present a unique
opportunity to compare, respectively, a liquid-molded
thermoset rear pressure bulkhead (RPB) for the twin-
aisle Airbus A with a thermoplastic RPB for the
single-aisle Airbus A. Both projects worked with the
Tier  supplier of these structures, Premium Aerotec
Group (PAG, Augsburg, Germany), and demonstrated
automation while evaluating cycle time and cost.

Liquid-molded TS bulkhead
“We started many years ago with PAG in the AZIMUT
project to analyze manual processes for compos-
ites manufacturing,” says Dr. Lars Larsen, head of
assembly and joining technologies at ZLP Augsburg.
“Our first automation solution was for layup, and
then we worked to automate more operations.” The
main goal for PROTEC NSR was to take these special-
ized solutions for RPB production and bring them
into a single automated process, explains Dr. Marcin
Malecha, project manager for PROTEC NSR at DLR.
Preform and grippers. The process steps for
creating the vacuum-bagged dry preform are shown
in Fig. . This was infused with RTM (Hexcel, Stam-
ford, Conn., U.S.) epoxy resin and a semi-permeable
membrane for reduced porosity. The preform layup
comprised two sets of  plies up to  meters long
using the full .-meter width of the -harness satin
carbon fiber fabric. Embedded between these two sets
were  complex-shaped reinforcing pieces sized up
to . by . meters. Eight stringers were placed on top.
“Developing tools and grippers that could achieve
the necessary precision in draping and handling was
CFRP bulkhead production
FIG. 1 Process steps for resin-
infused RPB
PROTEC NSR process steps for creating the dry preform:
(a) material cutting; (b) (d) material transport to the
robotic cell; cut-piece recognition, picking up, draping
and application of (c) reinforcing plies and (e) structural
plies; (f) stringer integration; and vacuum bagging of (g)
tool-side and (h) B-side/outer auxiliary materials.
Source | German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Structures and Design
one of the biggest challenges,” notes Larsen. This was
partly due to the complex mix of plies that required
three draping mechanisms: () Application of full-
width material directly from the roll; () pick and place
by two collaborative robots, one per edge, of large,
precut structural plies without wrinkles; and () acco-
modation for the small, complex-shaped plies.
“For the cooperating robots, we developed end-
effectors that contain six modules connected by
spherical joints,” Larsen explains. “This allows the
end-effector to deform, in a manner similar to a snake,
conforming to the target geometry of the mold. Inte-
grated heating devices activate the binder in the fabric
as it is being transported and shaped, maintaining its
D shape and position once placed.”
Automated draping and placement
For the small, shaped plies up to 1.5 by 2.5 meters, a
second kind of gripper was developed that uses 127
modules equipped with vacuum suction. “This gripper
picks up material,” Malecha explains, “and then decides
which of the 127 modules it will hold firm and which
it will let slide to transform the 2D ply to a 3D shape.
7
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
6 1
5 2
FIG. 2 Thermoplastic RPB
process steps
Process steps used to produce eight sections
(bottom) of stamp-formed CF/PPS organosheet
that were then joined via resistance welding to
form a demonstrator A320 bulkhead.
Source | German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Structures
and Design
We made many experiments and gained experience
on where to hold and where to release. Force can be
adjusted by how intense the modules grip the material.”
Inline inspection. Optical sensors in the modular
grippers monitored the draping process. After placing
a ply, an end-effector combining a Leica T-Scan
(Hexagon Manufacturing, Cobham, U.K.) and a
camera-based fiber angle measurement system by
Profactor (Steyr, Austria) inspect for quality. “We first
measured fiber angles and compared to the CAD file,”
says Malecha, “and then measured the edges of each
piece and checked its position.”
Stringers and vacuum bagging. After completing
the preform, eight stiffeners (stringers) were attached
on top. For this task, the Multi Kinematic Gripper was
developed and was also used to apply the vacuum bag
auxiliary materials. This gripper comprises three small
and independent six-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robots
and a rigid arm, all mounted on the center flange of
an industrial six-DOF robot. Vacuum bagging auxil-
iary materials — peel ply, perforated release film and
resin flow media (tool-side auxiliary materials) — were
precut and prejoined, designed for where they were
placed. “They didn’t have to be draped, just placed,”
notes Malecha. The prefabricated semi-permeable
membrane was applied in a semi-automated way via
an end-effector with an “umbrella-like” mechanism,
while placement of tacky tape and outer vacuum bag
remained manual but could also be automated.
Cycle time and cost. For Malecha, the largest chal-
lenge was building the modular, artificial intelligence
(AI)-based manufacturing execution system (MES)
8 NOVEMBER 2020
4 3
to monitor and control the process chain. “We had
to build data management systems that could bring
together quite different processes and then command
them via the MES through one data exchange port,”
he explains. “We can use them as they are needed on
the fly, enabling more flexibility and wider use versus
following a strict manufacturing order.”
The PROTEC NSR technology was validated by
manufacturing a full-size demonstrator in January ,
and was matured to TRL - by mid-. Compared
to current processes at PAG, this automation cut cycle
time of rolled fabric by % and pick and place of cut
plies by %. Manufacturing costs for these operations
were reduced by .% and %, respectively.
Thermoplastic RPB
“This project started in 2018 with PAG and Institut für
Verbundwerkstoffe (IVW, Kaiserslautern, Germany)
to show what is possible with thermoplastic compos-
ites in large parts,” explains Dr. Stefan Jarka, project
manager for Fast Lane RPB and expert on welding
technologies at ZLP Augsburg. “In just four months,
we developed a demonstrator A320 RPB as an
example of how to convert an existing aluminum
structure to thermoplastic composites.”
This demonstrator used Cetex carbon fiber (CF)
fabric/polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) organosheet
(Toray Advanced Composites, Nijverdal, Netherlands)
and resistance welding. A resistive element between
the two surfaces being welded generates heat
and remains in the welded structure. GKN Fokker
(Hoogeveen, Netherlands) has used this technique for

decades to produce aircraft landing gear doors and
fixed leading edges. For this A RPB, the ZLP team
used a CF resistive element instead of conventional
stainless-steel mesh.
“The thermoplastic composite RPB was to be the
same price or cheaper, but the material is much
more expensive,” notes Larsen. Thus, lower produc-
tion cost due to automation was key, as was the use
of eight identical petal sections. “These sections were
needed to form the double-curved shape of the part,”
Jarka explains. “Thermoforming as one single part
would require a very large press that would be too
expensive. In the project, eight smaller sections were
press-molded using matched metal tooling, high but
constant temperature and fast press cycles. We then
used automated welding for assembly.”
The overall process steps for the demonstrator RPB
are shown in Fig. . “The welding process we used was
not new,” says Jarka, “but had to be further developed
to join the .-meter-long [and -millimeter-wide]
seams for the -meter-diameter part and integrate
a quality inspection system. Components were first
fixed into the right position using a positioning jig
and then electrical energy was applied to generate the
plastic melt in the weld zone.”
Integrating QA. “We tried thermography, both
flash lamp- and ultrasonic-activated, but it’s not so
easy to measure the welding zone with this,” Jarka
explains. “Thermography is very fast, but it doesn’t
easily tell you if you have good consolidation.”
Instead, they used a standard test rig to make multiple
welded samples, measuring current, voltage and
temperature. “We then inspected them with ultra-
sonic testing (UT) and made correlations between
process parameters and good consolidation,” says
Larsen. “If we have good parameters, then we have a
good part. We have also built a process simulation to
compare the data we obtain during welding with the
initial baseline we established.”
Automation and cycle time. “Cycle times for the
whole process are on the scale of automotive parts,”
says Jarka. “We achieved TRL  in our  review,
are now at TRL  and will achieve TRL  by the end
of .” Before the pandemic, PAG had indicated it
would put the thermoplastic RPB into production by
. Though the future is now less clear, the thermo-
plastic RPB is still seen as enabling the “fuselage of
tomorrow,” reducing weight from  to  kilograms,
process and assembly time by % and overall part
cost by more than %.
CFRP bulkhead production
Comparing TS and TP composites
“The thermoplastic processes are so fast that you can be
cheaper vs. aluminum,” says Jarka. In comparison, says
Malecha, the liquid-molded RPB was more expensive to
automate. However, Larsen notes that the automation
developed is interesting, “because you could achieve
real gains by automating just some of the sub-processes.
For example, by automating the auxiliaries, we could
complete the vacuum bagging in about an hour, roughly
10 times faster than the manual process.” And yet, cost
is a major obstacle to implement such improvement.
The cost of digital tools, robots and development is too
much for one single part, Larsen concedes, but that
changes with a modular system spread across multiple
parts in combination with time and labor savings. This
is what ZLP has now achieved, as explained in CW’s July
2020 feature, “Composites 4.0: Digital transformation,
adaptive production, new paradigms.” (Learn More.)
“There are not yet many comparisons between ther-
moset and thermoplastic composite structures,” says
Malecha. “But we are beginning to compare thermoset
and thermoplastic processes.” He notes the next goal is
to show that thermoplastic weld lines have the proper-
ties required for aircraft wings and fuselages. And that
performance must also be shown for large, integrated
liquid molded wings, for example. This is exactly what
the MFFD and WOT programs have set out to accom-
plish. Their results, as well as those from many other
projects, will show the next steps forward.
Read more about the A320 next-gen spoilers |
short.compositesworld.com/nextgenRTM
Read about WOT |
short.compositesworld.com/WOTwngskn
Watch the video of the PROTEC NSR process |
short.compositesworld.com/PROTECNSR
Read about DLR’s AI-equipped work cell |
short.compositesworld.com/AIworkcell
More on welding thermoplastic composites |
short.compositesworld.com/WeldTPCs
Read about Composites 4.0 |
short.compositesworld.com/comp4.0
CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an
engineering/materials background and more
than 20 years of experience in the composites
industry. ginger@compositesworld.com
9
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Reprocessable thermosets and thermoplastic
epoxies: An expanding landscape
New chemistries give thermosets new thermoplastic-like versatility.
By Hannah Mason / Associate Editor
» Thermoset or thermoplastic? That’s a question
often asked when CompositesWorld researches the
stories it publishes. Is a particular composite applica-
tion taking advantage of the high mechanical proper-
ties inherent in many thermoset resins, or making
use of the weldability, formability or recyclability
gained from thermoplastics? Thanks to a handful of
innovative companies, the answer for many appli-
cations may more frequently become “both,” as
reprocessable thermosets combining the properties
of thermosets and thermoplastics prove themselves
on the market. What follows are the top current
contenders in this field.
Thermoset-like thermoplastics
Arkema’s (Colombes, France and King of Prussia, Pa.,
U.S.) Elium liquid thermoplastic resin was introduced
in 2014. Reported to be the first on the market, Elium
is a thermoplastic resin — thermoformable, weldable,
recyclable — that, like a thermoset resin, exhibits
high mechanical properties and is compatible
with conventional thermoset resin manufacturing
processes.
The company has released three varieties of Elium,
10 NOVEMBER 2020
New options in thermosets
Mallinda’s vitrimer resins are one of several reprocessable
thermoset products in development or on the market. Read more
at short.compositesworld.com/Vitrimers.
Source | Mallinda
specifically for infusion, resin transfer molding (RTM)
and wet compression molding. Elium is also said
to be suitable for pultrusion. Example applications
include wind turbine blades, concrete reinforce-
ment and window profiles, and Arkema has said the
material shows potential in automotive, aerospace
and sporting goods markets as well.
Cecence (Salisbury, U.K.) has developed a family
of thermoplastic epoxy products, called the K-Series,
available as a prepreg, K_Plate semi-preg, coilable
K-Rod and K-Chip molding compound. The material is
described as a thermoplastic resin with epoxy compo-
nents bonded to the end of it.
Unlike traditional thermoplastics, K_Series resins
have a relatively low viscosity, more like thermosets,
enabling even resin distribution on a variety of fibers
and compatibility with epoxy fiber sizing. K_Series
products are also easily painted and adhesively

Adhesive films
L&L Products’ T-Link is a rebranding of its thermo-
plastic epoxy adhesive film, with additional options as
a resin or yarn. Source | L&L Products
bonded, like a thermoset. Like typical
thermoplastics, however, K_Series
products enable reforming of finished
parts, and are said to be tough and energy-absorbing.
Applications include an overhead line equip-
ment (OHLE) system for rail, plus demonstrators and
other projects in automotive and construction. The
company has said that key areas of further develop-
ment include developments for noise reduction and
recyclability.
Thermoplastic-like thermosets
L&L Products (Romeo, Mich., U.S.) has formulated a
reformable, epoxy-based adhesive film called T-Link
Film, said to exhibit both the adhesion benefits of an
epoxy with the recyclability, repairability and form-
ability of an engineering thermoplastic. T-Link Film
is said to be high-performing compared to traditional
thermoplastic adhesive films, and also serves as a
solution to replace messy and time-consuming liquid
epoxies. The product, a recent rebranding of L&L’s
L-F thermoplastic epoxy adhesive film, is available
as a film, resin or coated yarn.
Under development since 2014, Mallinda’s (Denver,
Colo., U.S.) vitrimer resins are the industrialization
of a type of reprocessable thermosets first named in
2011. Through the company’s work developing highly
stable but reconfigurable, imine-linked carbon-
nitrogen double bond networks within the resin’s
chemistry, vitrimers can be reshaped and repro-
cessed when heated like a thermoplastic, and can be
cured and crosslinked like a thermoset. Due to the
Thermosets or thermoplastics?
Thermoplastic epoxy
Cecence’s K_Series thermoplastic
epoxy combines properties of
epoxy with formability. Read more
at short.compositesworld.com/
thermoepox. Source | Cecence
reversible chemistry inherent to
vitrimers, the cured materials also
can be depolymerized and sepa-
rated from fiber under mild conditions.
With other iterations under development, Mallin-
da’s first two vitrimer variations are Vitrimax T
for sporting goods and Vitrimax T to serve as a
drop-in replacement for standard structural epoxies
in automotive, wind and industrial structures.
Vitrimers are also being advanced by the CIDETEC
research center (San Sebastian, Spain). Its vitrimer-
enabling dynamic crosslinks/exchange reactions
are based on aromatic disulfides. CIDETEC leads
the -member Airpoxy consortium, which aims
to reduce production and maintenance costs of
composite aerostructures via thermoformable, repair-
able and bondable epoxy-based resins.
Called Airpoxy, the new product family is devel-
oped from what the consortium called “smart epoxy,”
thermoset resins that exhibit reversible, dynamic
chemical bonds that keep the fiber impregnation
capabilities and stability of thermosets while adding
a thermoplastics’ reprocessability, repairability and
recyclability. Currently, aircraft panel demonstrators
using Airpoxy serve to prove out the technology.
Hannah Mason joined the CompositesWorld
team in 2018 after working as an editorial intern
for sister magazine Modern Machine Shop and
earning a Masters of Arts in Professional Writing
from the University of Cincinnati. 
11
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Combining AFP with 3D printing
for flexible parts production
Electroimpact creates a
multifunctional manufac-
turing cell for complex,
aero-quality continuous
fiber composite parts.
By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Editor
12 NOVEMBER 2020
Combining AFP
and FFF
Shown here printing the
bay door demonstrator
in Fig. 2, the SCRAM cell
features a scaled-down,
extremely dexterous
in-situ consolidated
thermoplastic AFP head
positioned between two
fused filament fabrication
(FFF) nozzles — one for
printing soluble support
tooling and the other for
unreinforced or chopped
fiber-filled filament.
Source (all images) |
Electroimpact
»Founded in 1986, Electroimpact (Mukilteo, Wash., U.S.) is a global
tooling and production automation supplier that claims to be the
world’s largest integrator of aircraft assembly lines. In composites,
the company is known for its advanced technology in high-speed
automated tape laying (ATL) and fiber placement (AFP) systems.
Electroimpact emphasizes that it is engineer-driven — 400 of its
600 employees have engineering degrees — with developments
conceived and completed by the same engineer team, from concept
through design, manufacturing, installation and customer buyoff.
In July , CW reported on the company’s new Scalable
Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing (SCRAM) system. Here,
we share our interview with part of SCRAM’s engineering team:
project manager Cody Brown, process development and controls
engineer Ryan Bischoff and lead mechanical engineer Reese Allen.
Their explanation of this continuous fiber additive manufacturing’s
origin, implementation and future provides insights into what the
next generation of composites production might look like.
Aiming for large-scale FDM
Brown: “We have been working on this for four years but wanted
to wait until we could show that it would produce real, aerospace-
quality parts. Our original goal was to produce a large-scale, fused
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 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT

filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printer that could create
complex parts using continuous fiber. We didn’t set
out to develop an AFP-type process, but as we were
trying to increase fiber volume and achieve higher
physical strength in the printed parts, we hit a wall
with FFF. It’s just not a suitable process for in-situ
consolidation with high fiber content and low voids.
So, we have ended up with a process that combines
thermoplastic composite AFP with FFF using unrein-
forced and/or chopped fiber-filled filament.”
Allen: “AFP is actually an additive manufac-
turing process. In SCRAM, however, we’re not using
it in a conventional way with a fixed, hard tool but
instead printing a tool that we can wash out after-
ward to create very complex geometries that are truly
structural.”
Brown: “We can put that soluble tool in places
that aren’t grid-locked so that you can create internal
cavities. The goal is not to compete with our large AFP
systems, but instead to make a very dexterous system
as close to a D printer as you can get. To do this with
true six degrees of freedom and accuracy is actually
very complicated. The resulting cell eliminates
fasteners and adhesives, manufacturing integrated,
complex parts that can be iterated very quickly.”
shrink. Although the CTE for PEKK and other PAEK
resins is not zero, their crystaline structure is much
more controllable and therefore easier to work with.
Alternate PAEKs also offer much better processability
and higher layup speed.”
Allen: “Thermal gradients have to be avoided due to
the CTE issue, so you try to keep the process and part
as isothermal as possible. Otherwise, you end up with
warping. Using the heated chamber is a must — even
if you’re not keeping it at a high temperature — just to
ensure there are no drafts and that one part of the print
is not at a different temperature than the rest.”
Laser-based cell
Brown: “A lot of things that enable this system didn’t
exist when we started, including the PAEK tape and
the compact, high-power laser we use, as well as true
six-axis additive manufacturing CAM software.”
“The SCRAM head uses two D printing nozzles on
either side of the AFP system [opening image]. One is
used to print the soluble tooling and the other prints
unreinforced or chopped-fiber filament. You can see
that one is equipped with a scaffold. This holds a set

High-performance for aerospace

Brown: “The initial applications we are targeting
in aerospace and defense mandated we start with
PEEK [polyetheretherketone]. We then worked with
PEKK [polyetherketoneketone] and low-melt PAEK
[polyaryletherketone] with dramatic success.”
Bischoff: “Coefficient of thermal expansion [CTE]
is your biggest enemy. This is the reason why using
PEEK is so challenging — it loves to crystalize and

FIG. 1 Complex duct demonstrator

Bischoff: “In the demonstration video [Learn More],
we printed the tool as a 2.5D soluble support structure
and then smoothed that out to create a good layup
surface using a special process to eliminate the ridged
structure from the printed beads. We then wrapped this
with continuous carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic
tape. There are actually two skins in that part, an inner
and outer skin, separated by 3D ribs which were printed
using FFF with chopped carbon fiber filament. So, the
process was: Print the tool, AFP the quasi-isotropic inner
skin, FFF the ribs and then AFP the exterior skin. For the
tooling, we are working now to refine a water-soluble
material that is showing promise.

14 NOVEMBER 2020
 M SUPPLEMENT
of mirrors to redirect laser light around the nozzle
tip and heat the substrate. This allows us to achieve
exceptional interlayer bond strength compared to
traditional FFF. The lights on the system are to illumi-
nate the part for the cameras [Fig. ]. We use these all
over so the operator can safely see what is going on
without danger from the laser.”
Material formats and porosity
Brown: “We have run many different materials, most
of them custom made to our specification of fiber,
resin, fiber volume and dimensions. We have recently
been experimenting with more commercially avail-
able slit tows. The chopped fiber FFF filaments are also
made to our specification using the same resin and
fiber that we select for the continuous fiber tapes. We
have used 1-, 3.5- and 6.35-millimeter-diameter fila-
ments. We can go larger but haven’t had a need to yet.”
“We achieve -% fiber volume for the AFP, but
substantially less for the FFF portions since those are
extruded. Porosity is on the order of traditional out-
of-autoclave processes but has been dramatically
decreasing as we refine the process. Using extremely
high-quality materials, and in a lab setting, we have
achieved porosity under .%, measured using CT
[computed tomography] scans. As always, there are
a huge number of variables that impact this number
and when we are producing very complex parts it
is a challenge to maintain low porosity. We have
Multifunctional manufacturing cell
FIG. 2 Laser cell, aero parts
The lights shown here are not the cell’s laser, but instead enable
cameras to show parts clearly during printing to the operator, who
remains outside the cell for laser safety reasons. The demonstrator
spar section (top) and bay door (bottom) show the quality and
novel complexity that SCRAM can achieve.
performed lots of destructive and non-destructive
testing of parts and coupons made with the system.”
High-accuracy, robotic control
Bischoff: “SCRAM delivers high-accuracy robotic
technology. Standard off-the-shelf robots are an
affordable solution to achieve six-degree-of-freedom
movement for placing and printing, but they are
nowhere near accurate enough for aerospace-quality
AFP. We started figuring out how to apply these robots
to aerospace AFP systems years ago. You really have
to understand the fundamentals of the system and
the issues with achieving accuracy. We have an entire
robot group of 60-70 engineers, and this is all they do.”
“It is an incredibly complex issue to achieve high
positional and path accuracy. You have inaccura-
cies in the robot (CTE of the robot, backlash, vibra-
tions, etc.) and in the external axis, tool point calibra-
tions, a spinning part frame and several other sources.
Not accounting for/addressing any one of these can
be catastrophic once you start printing in a true D
space. To accomplish this, we throw out the controller
15
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT

that comes with the robot and run everything with a
Siemens CNC. We then add Electroimpact’s patented
secondary feedback onto all of the robot axes, which
takes us from a tolerance of - mils [.-.
inch] down to ± mils [. inch]. Then we apply a
high-order kinematic compensation to reach ± mils
[. inch].”
Speed, end effectors and
rotating print table
Brown: “We are using in-situ consolidation, so the
application speed will not be near that for thermoset
prepreg tapes. Also, this is a robot, not a large, stiffened
gantry platform (like AFP), which is built for higher
speeds. And speed is not just laying and printing but
includes the lead time for tooling as well. The real
metric is how quickly can you have a digitally manu-
factured part in hand?”
“The part in the video [Learn More] was  inches
tall (with the printed base it exceeded  feet) and its
diameter was  inches. If we ran nonstop in shifts, we
could produce this in a few days, which is an incred-
ibly short time to have a part in hand. Parts are also
produced straight from the CAD file, so if you need to
iterate, you change the CAD, repost the tool paths and
print the new part.”
Allen: “Right now, for printing the support tool, we
have a scaled-up, filament-based process. Throughput is
kind of slow, which impacts the print time. In July [],
we commissioned our first end effector with a pellet
screw extruder. This will increase output but will produce
thick beads, so we will also add a milling end effector for
machining the printed surface.”
Brown: “We will have a family of compatible end effec-
tors that the robot can pick up and drop off, performing
a wide variety of additive and subtractive functions as
required. The end effector pick-up and drop-off procedure
is fully automated, which is a standard feature on all of our
AFP systems as well as SCRAM. The entire end effector is
attached to the robot using an automatic tool change inter-
face module and there are stands for end effector storage.”
“The system prints onto an external rotational axis and
is controlled by the CNC. We have this because the robot
alone cannot reach every point on the parts we want to
make. Down the line, we intend to put the system on rails
to make bigger parts, but we want to refine the system at

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16 NOVEMBER 2020

this scale first. We have discussed using two robots,
and we know philosophically how we would go about
it. (We have produced other integrated multi-robot
manufacturing systems.) But when you have two
robots working in overlapping work zones, the controls
become extremely complicated.”
Future flexible production made possible
Brown: “This multifunctional cell will deliver value to
the end customer. It doesn’t always have to produce
continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic parts.
By adding extrusion and milling to the continuous
fiber deposition,
we widen its range
View Electroimpact’s 3D printing and flexibility. For
video | short.compositesworld.
com/EI3Dprint example, some of
Read more about SCRAM | short. the structures we’ve
compositesworld.com/SCRAM3D demonstrated have
subtractive func-
tions within the part build. The robot then checks the
surface and closes that cavity out. This is not currently
possible without multiple steps, specialized tooling
and/or final assembly of some sort.”
Multifunctional manufacturing cell
“However, there is an even greater theme than just
producing parts. Long-term, this approach has a chance
to dramatically shift the way aerospace and defense
systems are designed and manufactured. No more will a
single production line be dedicated to a single product.
Instead, production will be flexible. Also, if you can
reduce tooling, you can reduce spares sitting on the shelf.
This flexibility has impacts all through the supply chain,
including reducing waste due to expiration of materials.”
Bischoff: “With a small handful of SCRAM cells and
digital designs, all you have to keep on hand is raw
material feedstock, versus dozens of fixed tools and
limited-shelf-life thermoset materials.”
Brown: “We have a way to go yet before production is
truly handled this way, but now you can clearly see how
it’s possible.”
CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an
engineering/materials background and more
than 20 years of experience in the composites
industry. ginger@compositesworld.com
17
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Next-generation
composites
qualification
Fully digital qualification
hasn’t yet arrived, but
simulation and analysis
software continue to
evolve and work together
with physical testing
practices.
By Hannah Mason / Associate Editor
»What role does digital simulation and analysis play
in material qualification and part testing?
According to Dr. John Tomblin, senior VP for
industry and defense programs at Wichita State
University and executive director of the National Insti-
tute for Aviation Research (NIAR, Wichita, Kan., U.S.),
the conversation about whether faster, potentially less
expensive digital simulation tools can replace physical
testing within the years-long pyramid-shaped
“building block approach” (BBA) for aerospace part
qualification has been going on for the past  years.
According to Tomblin, the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) already allows certification by
analysis supported by testing (AC -B, paragraph
seven), so the process of analysis or simulation in
the qualification process is already being used in the
industry to pare down test conditions.
Today, there are a number of companies
marketing virtual simulation and analysis software,
such as Dassault Systèmes’ (Vélizy-Villacoublay,
France) DEXPERIENCE, e-Xstream engineering’s
(Hautcharge, Luxembourg) Digimat VA, Siemens’
(Plano, Texas, U.S.) Simcenter, Altair’s (Troy, Mich.,
U.S.) HyperMesh and OptiStruct, Autodesk’s (San
Rafael, Calif., U.S.) MoldFlow and others.
According to Tomblin, the technology currently
available suggests a hybrid digital-physical qualifica-
tion process would be possible — and even beneficial
— but that a fully digital qualification process is not
18 NOVEMBER 2020
Digimat modeling simulation software
Software company e-Xstream engineering, a division of Hexagon
Manufacturing Intelligence, continues to update its modeling and
simulation software for improved accuracy and inclusion of a wider
range of materials. Source | e-Xstream engineering
yet feasible, at least not for products that require certi-
fication or that have human safety requirements, like
aircraft or manned spacecraft.
Virtual testing “goes hand in hand with [physical]
testing,” adds Roger Assaker, CEO of e-Xstream engi-
neering. “It’s not replacing testing; it allows you to do
more clever testing.” He explains that digital simu-
lation of materials and parts can be used before
physical testing at each stage of the building block to
enable companies to start comparing materials and
predicting failures very early in the design process,
and ultimately narrow down the number of material
choices and design iterations that will need to go
through physical testing.
In addition, according to Pierre-Yves Mechin,
composites R&D development manager at Dassault
Systèmes, the key to accelerating the role of digital
simulation tools within the composites manufac-
turing process will be a “multi-scale” approach, which
includes combining digital material modeling with
virtual testing through simulation. “The role of simula-
tion and analysis is massive,” he says, and Dassault’s
 Digital composites qualification

Virtual and physical data

Ideally, composites fabricators can use virtual material simulation and digital analysis to create a set of virtual
allowables, created in parallel with physical testing data. Such allowables also can help inform that data (e.g., micro-
mechanics, defects, etc.). The above image shows how virtual and physical data work together within a material data
management process for aerospace OEM customers using e-Xstream engineering’s software. Source | e-Xstream engineering

DEXPERIENCE platform is one available option.
From Tomblin’s perspective, the best opportu-
nity for digital qualification is toward the end of the
qualification process with full part-level testing. Up
to % of testing for a full-composite aircraft compo-
nent could be done virtually, he estimates, while
% of a coupon-level material test could be virtual:
“I think that’s where the analysis and virtual engi-
neering comes into play and combines an empirical
analysis together with the new simulation tools —
higher up the building blocks” at the stage of full-scale
parts testing, “where you run a few physical tests and
then use [digital] analysis to look at other potential
test points.” Digital tools could be used to reduce the
number of physical tests at this stage.
However, though software has come a long way and
can provide accurate models for many tests and mate-
rials, Assaker concedes, “We cannot do everything
by simulation yet.” Companies like e-Xstream are
working to make simulation software more accurate
for a wider range of materials and process combina-
tions — and, in particular, thermoplastics.
Another challenge for simulation software is that
mechanical properties of a composite part can vary
not just by material combinations, but by changing
the manufacturing process used to produce the part.
At this point, Tomblin says, “I don’t think there’s
an analysis technique that I’ve seen that will deter-
mine the differences in those different processing
techniques.” Until that changes, he adds, physical
testing is still needed.
Dr. R. Byron Pipes, professor of engineering at
Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind., U.S.) and
executive director of Purdue’s Composites Manufac-
turing & Simulation Center (CMSC), believes hybrid
physical/digital part qualification will become main-
stream within the decade. However, he concedes that
it’s “very hard to predict,” as the timing also depends
on factors such as the economy, willingness within the
aviation industry to adapt to the new technology and
making sure that safety requirements are still being
met with the same vigor.
“I think you’ll soon see populations of data —
virtual and real — merged and used together. This is
coming, but it will take some time for the FAA and
others to accommodate the change,” Pipes says. In
the meantime, according to Assaker, “we have a lot of
work to do to improve the acceptance and the trust of
the industry with the simulation of composites, to let
them know that we can deal with all the complexity
that goes with it.”
Hannah Mason joined the CompositesWorld
team in 2018 after working as an editorial intern
for sister magazine Modern Machine Shop and
earning a Masters of Arts in Professional Writing
from the University of Cincinnati. 

19
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Bridging the gap
between CFRP and CMC
Novel composites offer performance up to 1,000°C with faster processing.
By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Editor
»Materials that enable high-performance struc-
tures at service temperatures above 500°F/230°C
are limited. The options are basically metals such as
titanium and alloys like Inconel, polyimides (PI) or
ceramic matrix composites (CMC). All of these are
significantly more costly than conventional carbon
fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, but
CMC have been gaining interest due to their low
density — roughly one-third that of Inconel and
one-half that of titanium. The downside of CMC has
been the long processing times required to make parts
— just short of 30 days, according to an April 2019
article in the American Ceramic Society Bulletin.
However, Pyromeral (Barbery, France) has devel-
oped a family of products that bridge this gap, offering
performance up to ,°C with processing that is
more akin to CFRP, producing parts in roughly one
week. “We have developed novel chemistry that
enables advanced glass-ceramic matrices rein-
forced with continuous fibers without the lengthy
melt infiltration step,” explains Pyromeral’s sales and
marketing director Guillaume Jandin. The company
offers PyroKarb, PyroSic and PyroXide materials rein-
forced with high modulus carbon, silicon carbide and
aluminum oxide fibers, respectively, typically in the
form of two-by-two twill fabrics, resulting in compos-
ites with a fiber volume fraction (FVF) of %.
20 NOVEMBER 2020
Fiber-reinforced
glass-ceramic
matrix parts
Pyromeral has developed
a family of water-based,
glass-ceramic matrix
materials reinforced with
carbon, silicon carbide
and aluminum oxide fibers
for its PyroKarb, PyroSic
and PyroXide products
respectively.
Source (all images) | Pyromeral
Thermal performance factors
Jandin explains that while all three Pyromeral
materials can perform above 1,000°C for less than
1 hour, PyroKarb offers long-term (less than 1,000
hours) service at 200°C, and up to 100 hours at 500°C.
PyroSic offers long-term service at 500°C and up to
100 hours at 800°C. PyroXide offers short service up
to 1,500°C, very close to the performance of Ox-Ox
CMC, but at a lower cost.
“Thermal performance in actual parts depends on
many factors,” says Jandin. “These include the type
of heat (radiative, convective), whether there is air
flow to help cool down some areas of the part and
also what structural properties are required — for
example, a non-structural heat shield or semi-struc-
tural part. Whether the materials work at continuous
high temperature or in short-duration flashes is also
critical,” he adds. “PyroSic and PyroKarb work well
with the latter, such as repeated cycles of ,°C
for one-tenth of a second, cool down and then
repeat. Their low coefficient of thermal expansion
(CTE) of roughly .- m/m/K is a benefit compared
to metals, which tend toward a CTE greater than
.- m/m/K. These types of metals incur stress
to accommodate rapid, high-temperature thermal
cycling and degrade due to fatigue, while our mate-
rials do not.”
 Hi-temp, lower-cost materials

CFRP-like processing,
high-temp applications
“We invented our matrix materials to be liquid at
room temperature and use impregnation machines
to create prepreg,” notes Jandin. The prepregs
are laid onto CF/epoxy tools. “We don’t work
with metal tools because our matrix is
alkaline and might react,” he adds. “The
next step is autoclave densification at 100°C
and 6 bar for roughly 12 hours.” Parts are
demolded and then proceed, free-standing,
through a two-stage thermal process at
500-1,000°C which completes ceram-
ization of the matrix, resulting in
structural components.
Pyromeral found early success in
Formula  race cars. “Our materials are
used in heat shields around engines and also
around brakes, which reach temps of -°C,”
says Jandin. “During the - F season, every car Conformable prepreg, high-temp parts
except Sauber used our materials for parts to direct
Pyromeral materials result in a fireproof glass-ceramic matrix. At
engine exhaust gas (°C). These structures also
a one-millimeter wall thickness, PyroSic (shown here) can pass
resisted vibration from both the exhaust and chassis. aerospace flame, smoke and toxicity tests and retain more than
We now have components on every car racing in F.” 90% of mechanical properties.
“Also, we can integrate high-performance insula-
tion into our materials to withstand drops of °C
with a -millimeter thickness,” he continues. “For The two companies are working to meet customer
example, we make components that enable an F demands for even higher temperature resistance and
race car gearbox made of CF/epoxy — which must to characterize PyroXide’s high radio frequency (RF)
stay below °C — to sit within  millimeters of transparency for use in radomes and antennas. “We’re
the turbocharger at -°C.” Other applications seeing interest regarding supersonic aircraft and very
include a PyroXide heat shield qualified for the Ariane broad-based defense applications beyond the Air
 launch vehicle and parts for the Ariane , as well Force, as well as in commercial jet engines,” notes
as PyroSic exhaust exits for large unmanned aerial Clauson.
vehicles (UAVs). “Pyromeral products are also future-looking,” says
Pyromeral has partnered with Composite Clauson, “because they contain no petroleum-based
Resources (Rock Hill, S.C., U.S.) to expand its market substances — only water as a solvent. The other
in the U.S. (see Learn More). The companies are constituents are minerals, enabling us to process end-
similar in size and share a long history in racing. “Our of-life parts into powder that can be reused in other
experience in parts design and manufacturing is applications.”
complimentary to Pyromeral’s focus on chemistry and
materials performance,” says Composite Resources
business development director Melvil Clauson.

CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an

engineering/materials background and more
than 20 years of experience in the composites
More on Composite Resources |
industry. ginger@compositesworld.com
short.compositesworld.com/CompRmfg

21
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Moving forward on
the Multifunctional
Fuselage
Demonstrator
(MFFD)
Clean Sky 2’s MFFD program
continues to move toward its
goal of delivering a welded,
thermoplastic composite fuselage
demonstrator using next-genera-
tion manufacturing processes.
By Hannah Mason / Associate Editor
»Reduced fuel emissions and energy consumption,
and the ability to produce single-aisle commercial
aircraft at rates of at least 60 per month, are driving the
Clean Sky 2 European partnership’s technology devel-
opment for the next generation of aircraft taking to
the skies in 2035 and beyond. Lightweight composites
and faster, more environmentally conscious manufac-
turing processes are making these goals a reality, espe-
cially for the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator
(MFFD) project.
The main deliverable for this project, which is led
by Airbus (Hamburg, Germany) with partners from
academia and the aviation industry, is an -meter-
long, thermoplastic composite, single-aisle commer-
cial aircraft fuselage barrel demonstrator, to be
produced by . The MFFD is one of three full-scale
fuselage sections being produced within Clean Sky
’s Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) Innovative Aircraft
Demonstrator Platform (IADP).
Begun in , the MFFD project’s goals involve:
• Enabling production rates of 60-100 aircraft/month
• Reducing fuselage weight by 1,000 kilograms
• Reducing recurring costs by 20%.
To achieve these goals, dozens of individual projects
and work packages are being pursued and completed,
with two main structures being produced: an upper
fuselage shell and a lower fuselage shell, which will
be welded together to form the final demonstrator. In
22 NOVEMBER 2020
Continuous ultrasonic welding
Robot-based continuous ultrasonic welding will be used to
integrate the stringers on the upper half of the MFFD.
Source | German Aerospace Center (DLR)
fact, dustless joining via welding is one major compo-
nent of the program. Both halves are being fabricated
from Toray Cetex TC low-melt polyaryletherk-
etone (PAEK) carbon fiber thermoplastic prepreg from
Toray Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.).
According to Dr.-Ing. Lars Larsen, head of joining and
assembly technologies at the German Aerospace Insti-
tute (DLR; Augsburg, Germany), both halves will test
the use of different manufacturing techniques.
The lower fuselage section of MFFD is being
produced through project STUNNING (SmarT mUlti-
fuNctionNal and INtegrated thermoplastic fuselaGe),
which itself has many projects within it (such as MECA-
TESTERS, focused on induction welding). The lower
section will comprise the lower fuselage shell (with
welded stringers and frames), the cabin and cargo floor
structure and relevant interior and system elements.
STUNNING is led by GKN Fokker (Papendrecht,
Netherlands) with key partners Diehl Aviation
(Laupheim, Germany), Netherlands Aerospace Centre
(NLR; Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Delft University
of Technology (TU Delft; Delft, Netherlands). It aims to

In-situ consolidated
thermoplastic skin
Integral frames
Glide-formed stringers
Hot-pressed clips System mounting
integration
further mature automated assembly processes, ther-
moplastic manufacturing and welding technologies,
integrated design and manufacturing development
and advanced electrical systems architectures.
“Our industry impact is two-fold: the level of auto-
mation that we are applying to the assembly of the
demonstrator, and developing sustainable ways
to produce parts,” says Dr. Bas Veldman, program
manager at GKN Fokker.
According to a paper Veldman published in
February , modular assembly of the lower
fuselage is key to achieving the goal of fast production
times. To manufacture the main skin of the fuselage,
large preforms made of carbon fiber/thermoplastic
prepreg are laid by an ultrasonic- or laser-heated
automated tape laying (ATL) machine, but not in-situ
consolidated. Details are laid by an automated fiber
placement (AFP) machine. Robots then place the
preforms in a female mold, and after bagging, the
skin is consolidated in an autoclave. Out-of-autoclave
processes are also being investigated. The stringers
and frames will be welded to the skin.
“Originally, the plan was to have all the parts
manufactured this year,” Veldman says, but due to
coronavirus-related delays, “It’s now transitioning
into next year as well. But we do have quite a few
parts that have now been completed,” including many
of the smaller press-formed parts such as clips, struts
and brackets that will be used for attaching aircraft
seats and other components. Emphasizing sustain-
able manufacturing, some of the clips are manufac-
tured from reused offcuts from the demonstrator,
through a Clean Sky  project called ECO-CLIP.
Having begun in early , the consortium
producing the -meter-long upper shell includes
Airbus; Premium Aerotec (Augsburg, Germany),
Thermoplastic fuselage structures
Advanced PAX-DSS
concept
Design for the upper half
This illustration shows each of the components being produced for
the upper half fuselage by DLR and its partners.
Source | German Aerospace Center (DLR)
which is the industrial and structural design lead; DLR,
in charge of skin layup and welding technology devel-
opment; and Aernnova (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain), which
is producing the stringers.
For the aerospace industry to transition to more
expensive thermoplastic materials, Larsen says, “We
have to show that we can save costs during produc-
tion.” The upper half consortium is developing novel
advanced fiber placement (AFP) technology with,
notably, in-situ consolidation for the carbon fiber/
PAEK skin layup, as well as industrialization of contin-
uous ultrasonic welding and resistance welding for
integration of the stringers, frames and other compo-
nents, improving safety and reducing cost. DLR is
first fabricating a -meter-long, pre-demonstrator test
shell to validate the technologies before the full-scale
demonstrator is built, and plans to have the skin for the
pre-demonstrator shell fabricated by the end of .
Integration of the stringers is scheduled for early .
The full-scale versions of both halves are expected
to be completed by the end of . Once completed,
they will be welded into the final demonstrator at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology
and Advanced Materials IFAM (Stade, Germany).
Hannah Mason joined the CompositesWorld
team in 2018 after working as an editorial intern
for sister magazine Modern Machine Shop and
earning a Masters of Arts in Professional Writing
from the University of Cincinnati. 
23
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Desktop/Cell
100,000
10,000
PROM IS 500
Parts/yr
X7
1,000
A3
Mark Two
1-100
.2m x .2m x .3m 6.m x .4m x .3m
.4m x .3m x .3m
3D printing with continuous fiber:
A landscape
Growth continues in suppliers, part size, production volume and markets.
By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Editor and Hannah Mason / Associate Editor
»As the list of companies commercializing contin-
uous fiber D printing continues to grow, so does the
spectrum of materials, processes, parts sizes, produc-
tion volumes, applications and end markets. To get a
picture of the current landscape, CW recently polled
companies that have developed technology in this
space. CW produced the above graphic to help put
this technology in context.
Classification of processes
Typical for composites, technology development
in continuous fiber printing is fluid and fast-paced,
resulting in myriad new terms (and acronyms).
Alexander Matschinski, research associate and
expert for Additive Manufacturing at TU Munich and
the Chair for Carbon Composites (LCC), recently
presented his effort to standardize concepts for the
24 NOVEMBER 2020
Robot
TS or TP
TS or TP
TS
1m x 1m x 1m 4m x 2m x 2m 15m x 3m x 3m
1.2m x 1.2m x 1.8m 6.5m x 2.5m x 1.5m
Print Volume
direct integration of continuous fiber in 3D printing
processes (Fig. 1). “Due to the company-specific
nuances in how these processes are implemented,
categorization is difficult,” he concedes. “But there are
some trends, especially if we focus on how the fiber
and matrix are brought into the print nozzle and how
they are deposited.”
In-situ impregnation. Dry fiber is fed into the
nozzle while a matrix material is injected through one
or more inflows during deposition by co-extrusion.
The matrix is thus introduced, heated and in-situ
impregnates the fiber prior to being deposited.
Co-extrusion with towpreg. Instead of dry fiber,
towpreg/thin prepreg tape is fed into the nozzle,
heated and co-extruded with additional matrix
material. Typically, the matrix in the towpreg is iden-
tical to that in the co-extrusion. An exception is

In-situ Co-Extrusion Towpreg
Impregnation with Towpreg Extrusion
dry fiber towpreg towpreg
polymer polymer
Anisoprint, where the towpreg matrix is thermoset
and the coextrusion is thermoplastic.
Towpreg extrusion. The towpreg input is heated
and extruded without any additional material.
In-situ consolidation. Essentially a scaled-down
version of thermoplastic automated fiber place-
ment (AFP) where the input thermoplastic towpreg/
prepreg tape is consolidated in-situ when deposited.
The feedstock is heated by an external energy source
at the nozzle during the feeding process and is then
placed and consolidated by a pressure roller during
deposition.
Inline impregnation. The fiber is impregnated
while it is transported into the print head, similar to
D filament winding. As with towpreg extrusion, the
deposition takes place via a nozzle.
Several additional terms are helpful to understand
technology nuances below. Towpreg extrusion is
commonly described as fused deposition modeling
(FDM), a term trademarked by Stratasys (Eden
Prairie, Minn., U.S.). In the D printing industry, fused
filament fabrication (FFF) denotes printing with a
spaghetti-like strand of polymer called a filament
and is used interchangeably with FDM. Thus, FFF
can describe printing with filament that is unrein-
forced, chopped fiber-reinforced or continuous fiber-
reinforced. Continuous filament fabrication (CFF),
however, specifically denotes printing with contin-
uous fiber reinforcement.
Desktop/cell
9T Labs’ (Zurich, Switzerland) two-step Red Series
technology includes a Build Module for layup and
Fusion Module for consolidation of carbon fiber-
reinforced PEKK (polyetherketoneketone) and PA12
AM landscape
In-situ In-situ
Consolidation Impregnation
towpreg dry fiber
polymer
impregnation
FIG. 1 Concepts for direct fiber integration
Source | Alexander Matschinski, Virtual Symposium on AFP and AM, TU Munich, Chair of
Carbon Composites (LCC), Sep. 2020.
(polyamide) materials. It is developing AFP-like depo-
sition with infinite rotation, and its strategy to produce
relatively high volumes of high-performance parts is
demonstrated in its partnership with advanced metal
parts manufacturer Setforge (L’Horme, France).
Anisoprint’s (Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg) twin-
nozzle Composite Fiber Co-extrusion (CFC) tech-
nology uses one nozzle for FFF and one for co-extru-
sion with carbon or basalt towpreg made using a
range of thermoplastics, from PLA (polylactic acid) to
PEEK (polyetheretherketone).
Desktop Metal’s (Burlington, Mass., U.S.) Fiber
printers, launched in , use a robotic tool changer
to switch between FFF and AFP (micro AFP) deposi-
tion heads. LT models print with carbon (CF) or glass
fiber (GF) and PA, while HT models also print in
PEEK and PEKK.
APS Tech Solutions (Höchst, Austria) uses CFF
featuring an integrated inline cutting mechanism and
automated tool-changing system with four print-
heads: CFF-printhead for CF with PA or PEEK, GF,
aramid fibers (AF) and copper wires; or FFF-print-
head for a variety of materials including PLA, ABS
(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PEEK and metals/
ceramics for sintering applications.
Markforged’s (Watertown, Mass., U.S.) twin-nozzle
Continuous Fiber Reinforcement (CFR) technology
augments FFF by using a CFR nozzle to lay down
continuous CF, GF or AF and PA into an FFF-printed
part. The company builds both desktop and industrial
D printers.
25
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
Medical
Energy
Jigs/fixtures/aerospace molds
Industrial
Sporting/consumer goods
Transportation (marine,
rail, auto, truck)
Aerospace & defense
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
FIG. 2 Top targeted markets
Based on responses to CW poll of 13 companies supplying
continuous fiber 3D printing technology.
Robot/cell hybrids
Arevo’s (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) direct-to-consumer
Superstrata eBikes serve as a demonstrator for its
Direct Energy Deposition (DED) machines, which are
based on continuous carbon fiber and thermoplas-
tics including PA, PEEK and PEKK. Its robot-based
printing in an enclosed cell achieves true 3D paths
and z-direction reinforcement.
CEAD’s (Delft, Netherlands) Continuous Fiber
Additive Manufacturing (CFAM) Prime cell is gantry-
based, while its AM Flexbot is robot-based. Both
combine pellet extrusion with unidirectional (UD)
tapes. The company recently printed a GF/PET (poly-
ethylene terephthalate) bridge, including chopped and
continuous fibers, with Royal HaskoningDHV (Amers-
foort, Netherlands) and DSM (Heerlen, Netherlands),
and will soon launch even larger versions of its systems.
Mantis Composites (San Luis Obispo, Calif., U.S.)
uses an FFF type process with a five-axis machine
for true D placement of complex parts for space
and aircraft applications. It uses mostly carbon
fiber and high-performance thermoplastics such as
PEEK, though materials vary per customer and part
requirements.
Robotic 3D printing
Continuous Composites’ (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,
U.S.) Continuous Fiber 3D Printing (CF3D) system
impregnates continuous dry fiber in-situ with liquid
26 NOVEMBER 2020
thermoset resin in a print head, discharging a wetted
tow, which is consolidated prior to snap-polymeriza-
tion by a high-intensity cure source. It uses various dry
continuous fibers — including wires and fiber optics —
and snap-curing resins developed in partnership with
Arkema (Colombes, France) and its Sartomer subsidiary.
Electroimpact’s (Mukilteo, Wash., U.S.) SCRAM
system integrates a dexterous in-situ consolidation AFP
head with two FFF nozzles, one to print support tooling
and the other to print with unreinforced or chopped
fiber filament. This multifunctional manufacturing cell
will soon integrate pellet extrusion and CNC milling,
aiming to change how aerospace and defense parts are
designed and manufactured (see “Combining AFP with
D printing for flexible parts production” p. ).
Ingersoll Machine Tools’ (Rockford, Ill., U.S.) multi-axis
robotic MasterPrint Continuous Filament printers use
co-extrusion of thermoplastic neat filament and towpreg
to create complex D shapes and continuous fiber rein-
forcements on existing structures through overprinting.
Options include an external axis turntable and additional
nozzle for printing support and locating structures.
moi composites’ (Milan, Italy) Continuous Fiber
Manufacturing (CFM) technology uses inline impreg-
nation or towpreg extrusion for a variety of continuous
fiber and thermoset resin combinations. Its largest print
to date is the .-by-.-meter MAMBO (Motor Additive
Manufacturing BOat), printed in GF and vinyl ester
with partners including Autodesk, Owens Corning and
Catmarine shipyard.
Orbital Composites’ (San Jose, Calif., U.S.) ORB 
system can use in-situ impregnation and FFF nozzles
to process PA, PEI, PPS and PEEK as well as thermosets
reinforced with CF (K to K tow), GF, metal wires and
fiber optics. The modular platform allows easy scalability
and multiple larger systems are in development.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an
engineering/materials background and more
than 20 years of experience in the composites
industry. ginger@compositesworld.com
Hannah Mason joined the CompositesWorld
team in 2018 after working as an editorial intern
for sister magazine Modern Machine Shop
and earning a Masters of Arts in Professional
Writing from the University of Cincinnati. 
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT

Carbon fiber in pressure vessels

for hydrogen storage
The emerging H2 economy drives tank
development for aircraft, ships and
gas transport.

By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Editor

»Hydrogen as a CO -free alternative to fossil fuels

2
has been on the horizon for decades, and growth
in carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) pressure
vessels for hydrogen storage has definitely been on
the rise. But in 2020, hydrogen became a mandate,
identified by the European Commission (EC) as a
key priority to achieve the European Green Deal for a
sustainable economy and climate-neutral EU by 2050.
Key events for hydrogen in aviation include:
May  — Clean Sky  and The Fuel Cells and
Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) published
“Hydrogen-powered aviation,” detailing how short-
range (- passenger) hydrogen-powered aircraft
could achieve entry into service (EIS) by -.
June  — France’s $ billion pandemic relief
program is tied to goals from the “Hydrogen-powered
aviation” report; Air France says it will cut CO emis-
sions in half for domestic flights by .
July  — EC publishes “A hydrogen strategy
for a climate-neutral Europe,” calling for a €
Enabling hydrogen-powered aviation
Universal Hydrogen’s twin-tank module uses carbon fiber-
wrapped pressure vessels to store H2 gas at 850 bar, enabling
a 400-nm range for a Dash 8 or ATR turboprop as well as easy
transport and loading using existing infrastructure.
Source | Universal Hydrogen
billion investment for hydrogen transport, distribu-
tion, storage and refueling stations, listing support
policies and funding mechanisms including the Clean
Hydrogen Partnership and ETS Innovation Fund (€
billion during -).
July  — Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, in an
interview with Aviation Week editor Graham Warwick,
commits to the first decarbonized aircraft, with EIS
by ; he forecasts program launch by - and
maturation of necessary technologies by .
July  — ZeroAvia (Hollister, Calif., U.S.)
completes test flight of single-engine, six-seat Piper

28 NOVEMBER 2020

aircraft modified to use compressed hydrogen (H)
gas and unveils U.S.-based flight testing for similarly
modified twin-turboprop, -seat Dornier Do  per
its roadmap to certify a -seat, H-powered aircraft
with -mile range by .
August  — Universal Hydrogen (Los Angeles,
Calif., U.S.) announces twin-tank modules for a
-seat aircraft (see photo), plus refueling logistics
and infrastructure for regional airlines/operators to be
commercial by .
Hydrogen’s viability as a fuel source — regardless
of industry — depends on rapid development of a
variety of transport, delivery and storage technologies
that are young but fast-evolving. Commercialization
will not be simple, but is being addressed. Below is a
summary of some work being done.
Universal Hydrogen
Co-founded in 2020 by Paul Eremenko, ex-CTO for
Airbus SE (Leiden, Netherlands) and United Tech-
nologies Corp. (Farmington, Conn., U.S.), Universal
Hydrogen’s goal is to help transition to hydrogen-
powered aviation by providing a hydrogen fueling
infrastructure. One key component is its fuel module
comprising twin H2 storage tanks in a carbon fiber-
reinforced polymer (CFRP) frame. “We will supply
the modules to site as needed, so there’s no need for
hydrogen storage infrastructure,” explains Universal
Hydrogen CTO J.P. Clarke. “The modules are simply
loaded into the plane like a battery or galley supplies.”
Modules have been developed first for the -seat
Dash  and ATR turboprop regional aircraft. These
modules will feature -foot long by -foot-diameter
tanks, using either carbon fiber to hold H gas at 
bar achieving a density of  kg/m, or insulated metal
tanks to hold liquid H (LH) at standard pressure and
temperature achieving a density of  kg/m. Though
Carbon fiber H2 pressure vessels
H2 gas transport by
road, rail or sea
Neptune high-pressure (517
bar) CFRP tanks enable
transporting 600 kg of H2 gas
in a standard 20-ft container.
Source | Cimarron Composites
the LH tanks offer higher volumetric efficiency, the
insulated but uncooled tanks must be used within
 hours because LH vaporizes if not kept at -°C.
“Both type tanks will sit within a lightweight, structur-
ally-optimized composite frame that also lends impact
resistance and some load-bearing capabilities,” says
Clarke.
The H gas tanks will include an impermeable
polymer liner wrapped with layers of dry carbon fiber
braid and a Kevlar aramid fiber protective outer layer.
“There is no need for resin,” Clarke explains. “The liner
addresses permeability, while the carbon handles the
hoop and axial loads and the outer layer plus frame
prevents damage; thus weight and thickness are
reduced. This integrated tank and frame design, when
combined with the mapping of functions to each of
the tank layers, has allowed us to get some significant
improvements in the mass fraction.”
Maximizing mass fraction — ratio of stored H2 mass
to whole system mass — is key. “We did a very exten-
sive trade study looking at the mass fraction and volu-
metric efficiency in the context of the Dash  and ATR
aircraft,” Clarke notes. “So, you’re looking at volume
and weight of fuel versus what can fit in these aircraft,
achievable range and maximum takeoff weight, weight
29
 MATERIALS & PROCESSES SUPPLEMENT
distribution, etc. With H gas at  bar, we can fly
about  nautical miles with a -minute reserve and
about  nautical miles with the LH tanks. However,
the average stage length for a turboprop mission is
around  nautical miles, so the vast majority of
these flights can be done with a gaseous H system
using carbon fiber wound tanks.”
Will Universal Hydrogen partner with a composite
tank manufacturer? “Our strategy is to partner where
it makes sense and stick to our core business,” says
Clarke. “We want to be the provider of the fuel and the
infrastructure. We’ll provide the modules, and we’ll get
them to where they’re needed so that our partners can
focus on the rest of the aircraft design and operation.”
SpaceTech4Sea
Like aviation, shipping is also coming under regula-
tions designed to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions. From January 2018, ships of
more than 5,000 gross tons loading or unloading cargo
or passengers at ports in the European Economic Area
(EEA) must monitor and report their CO2 emissions.
Further, as part of its MARPOL convention to reduce
pollution from ships, the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) has mandated from January 2020
that sulfur in fuel oil must be reduced from 3.50%
m/m (mass by mass) to 0.50%. The IMO has also
committed to an initial GHG strategy to pursue a 50%
reduction by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.
“The best possibility to be in compliance is to
initially shift to liquid natural gas (LNG),” says Dr.
Panayotis Zacharioudakis, managing director of
Ocean Finance (Athens, Greece), an advisory firm
advancing maritime sustainability and coordinator
of the EC projects SuperGreen and SpaceTechSea.
SuperGreen will create a sustainable and green trans-
port system in Greece comprising electric commuter
vessels and two hybrid LNG/electric catamarans that
will connect the port of Piraeus with other ports in
the eastern Mediterranean network. “For this project,
we are building a high-speed ferry in CFRP,” explains
Zacharioudakis. “If we used a state-of-the-art metal
LNG tank, it would weigh seven metric tons, which
equates to a little more than  passengers [ kilo-
grams per person with baggage]. So, we’d have to
decrease the passenger capacity by .”
Why the extra weight? “Compared to diesel, LNG
must be stored at a cryogenic -°C and the metal
tanks must use materials, construction, insulation and
operating systems that meet the IMO’s requirements
30 NOVEMBER 2020
for gaseous fuels, or IGF code,” says Zacharioudakis. For
Ocean Finance, the extra weight was not acceptable,
so it began researching possible solutions and found a
report about cryotanks Cimarron Composites (Hunts-
ville, Ala., U.S.) developed with NASA.
“This is when we began the EASME (European
Agency for SMEs) SpaceTechSea project,” says Zacha-
rioudakis. “The idea is to modify aerospace technology
for maritime applications.” The third project partner is
classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS,
Houston, Tex., U.S.), which will validate and qualify the
technology. In September , ABS granted approval
in principle (AIP) for Cimarron’s conceptual design of
an ultralight, cryo-capable composite LNG tank. Since
then, it has built and tested sub- and full-scale tanks for
certification. “They just finished the last testing,” says
Zacharioudakis. “In a little more than two months, we
will have a full certification for composite LNG tanks for
the marine market. This tank will provide weight savings
of more than % versus a conventional metal tank.”
Though most of the tank’s specifics are proprietary,
Cimarron Composites founder and president Tom
DeLay says it is made with carbon fiber and an advanced
thermoset resin using some resin infusion and wet
filament winding. “We have tested - and -inch-
diameter tanks and are talking to the CFRP ferry builder
for SuperGreen about tanks with a capacity of five cubic
meters [, liters], which could be achieved with a
tank  meters in diameter and . meters long.” Ocean
Finance sees a market for more than a thousand such
tanks and will work with Cimarron to establish auto-
mated production, possibly in Greece.
And what about hydrogen? “Even while we finish
these LNG projects, we have started to look at
hydrogen,” notes Zacharioudakis. “There is so much
interest, activity and now funding available in Europe.
One issue, however, is that maritime regulations specify
tanks must provide a holding time of up to  days for
LNG. This will be the same for LH.” DeLay concedes
that developing a cryo-capable tank for LH (-°C)
is much more difficult than developing a tank for LNG
(-°C); among the challenges is to find materials that
can resist embrittlement and cracking. He is working
now with Ocean Finance to help complete a trade study,
looking at the technical and economic factors of using
liquid versus gaseous H for marine vessels.
Neptune tanks for H2 gas
Notably, Cimarron Composites has already devel-
oped a Type IV CFRP tank for high-pressure storage

of hydrogen and other gases. “Our Jupiter tank was
developed for the transport of most industrial gases,
including hydrogen, at a pressure of 4,350 psi [300
bar],” says DeLay. “Hydrogen, however, is transported
more effectively at higher pressures, which is why we
developed the 7,500-psi [517 bar] Neptune tank.”
Both Jupiter and Neptune tanks have passed the
myriad tests per UN ISO  requirements and are
available in a range of diameters and lengths up to
 feet. “These tanks were developed for shipping in
standard modules by truck, rail or ship,” notes DeLay.
“We have found that a -inch diameter has an ideal
packing efficiency, allowing us to haul more hydrogen
than with larger-diameter cylinders. With a -foot
length, we can fit nine tanks into a standard -foot
container. At  kilograms of hydrogen gas per tank,
we can move  kilograms in a -foot container and
, kilograms in a standard -foot container.”
“We buy carbon fiber from all of the main suppliers,
including Toray [Tokyo, Japan], Mitsubishi Rayon
[Tokyo], Teijin [Rockwood, Tenn., U.S.] and Hyosung
[Seoul, South Korea],” adds DeLay, “but for Neptune
we have qualified with three different suppliers
Carbon fiber H2 pressure vessels
simultaneously. We formulate the resin ourselves using
commercially available products and very tightly control
the fiber and resin content as well as the tension during
filament winding and oven cure cycle to prevent thermal
stress. All of this adds to the mechanical performance of
the tanks.”
DeLay sees H opportunities growing for both cryogenic
liquid and high-pressure gas storage. “It has taken us
years to develop our expertise,” he says, “starting from fuel
tanks for rockets to the large transport and storage tanks
we’re producing now. A year ago, I was skeptical about
hydrogen, thinking it was just a push by the government.
But now we are getting very large orders and all kinds of
requests. We can see that, globally, a wide range of indus-
tries are investing seriously in hydrogen. It looks like we’re
ready with the right products at the right time.”
CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an
engineering/materials background and more
than 20 years of experience in the composites
industry. ginger@compositesworld.com
31
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