黑料网大事记

Automated Fibre Placement

Automated Fibre Placement

Overview

Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) is a state-of-the-art manufacturing process revolutionising the production of advanced composite structures in aerospace, automotive, defence, and renewable energy industries. AFP involves the precise, automated placement of narrow composite tows鈥攖ypically carbon or glass fibres pre-impregnated with resin (prepreg)鈥攐nto complex 3D moulds or tooling surfaces. The process uses robotic heads equipped with sophisticated compaction rollers, heating systems, and cutting mechanisms to lay down fibres in highly controlled patterns and orientations, ensuring optimal strength-to-weight ratios, minimal material waste, and repeatable quality.

AFP allows the creation of tailored laminate architectures with variable stiffness, enabling engineers to fine-tune structural performance for highly loaded or aerodynamically sensitive components such as aircraft fuselages, wing spars, wind turbine blades, and hydrogen pressure vessels. Unlike traditional hand lay-up methods, AFP offers unmatched speed, accuracy, and scalability, significantly reducing production time, material wastage and labour costs while enhancing consistency and design complexity. At 黑料网大事记 Sydney, the AFP system is a high-performance machine developed by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions庐 (formerly Automated Dynamics). It features a six-axis Kawasaki robotic arm, a coordinated rotating spindle, and an advanced motion controller. It involves a thermoset and thermoplastic layup heads capable of feeding up to four tows simultaneously. Heat and pressure are applied via a Hot Gas Torch (HGT) and compaction roller, ensuring strong interlaminar bonding and high laminate consolidation. The system鈥檚 start-stop control allows for tailored tow placement, enabling the manufacture of multi-stiffened, variable stiffness composite laminates. AFP at AMAC plays a central role in advancing Australia鈥檚 capabilities in lightweight, high-performance manufacturing. It supports industry partners in delivering complex composite solutions while equipping students and researchers with hands-on experience in next-generation manufacturing. The integration of automation, materials science, and design makes AFP a cornerstone of innovation in modern composite engineering.

Publications
    1. Islam F; Donough MJ;聽Oromiehie聽E; Phillips AW; St John NA;聽Prusty聽BG, 2025, 'Data-driven optimization of additive composite manufacturing using automated fibre placement: A study on process parameters effects and interactions', Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2024.108599
    2. Donough MJ; Shafaq S; Sommacal S; Chirima G; Ibrahim M; St. John NA;聽Prusty聽BG, 2025, 'Evaluating the effectiveness of fusion bond repairs on impact damaged thermoplastic composites', Polymer Composites, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.29489
    3. Mittal S; Pearce H;聽Yampolskiy聽M;聽Oromiehie聽E;聽Prusty聽BG,聽2025,聽'On cyber sabotage risks in automated manufacturing of advanced composites',聽Additive Manufacturing Letters,聽13,聽http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addlet.2025.100280
    4. Oromiehie, E., Matti, F., Mashiri, F.,聽Prusty, G.B. (2024). Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite Retrofitted Steel Profiles Using Automated Fibre Placement. In: Singh, S.B., Murty, C.V.R. (eds) RC Structures Strengthened with FRP for Earthquake Resistance. Composites Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0102-5_3鈥
    5. Jenkins C; Donough MJ; Gangadhara聽Prusty聽B, 2024, 'Mould free laminated composites using eccentric fibre prestressing', Composite Structures, 331, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117867
    6. Jenkins, C.J., Donough, M.J. &聽Prusty, G.B. Design and manufacture of mould-free fibre-reinforced laminates with compound curvature. Int J Adv聽Manuf聽Technol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13226-2鈥
    7. Zhao, C., Donough, M. J.,聽Prusty, B. G., Xiao, J., Zhou, L., & An, L. (2023). Pseudo-ductile fracture in grid stiffened structure by automated fibre placement. Composite Structures, 308.聽doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.116694
    8. Christopher Leow, Peter B. Kreider, Silvano Sommacal, Patrick Kluth, Paul Compston, Electrical and thermal conductivity in graphene-enhanced carbon-fibre/PEEK: The effect of interlayer loading, Carbon, Volume 215, 2023, 118463, ISSN 0008-6223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2023.118463.
    9. Oromiehie聽E; Nair V; Short K; Wei T; Bhattacharyya D;聽Prusty聽BG, 2023, 'Effect of He2+ ion irradiation on the mechanical properties of automated fibre placement (AFP) CF-PEEK thermoplastics composites', Scientific Reports, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45742-8
    10. S. Sommacal, A.聽Matschinski, J. Holmes, K. Drechsler, P. Compston, Detailed void characterisation by X-ray computed tomography of material extrusion 3D printed carbon fibre/PEEK, Composite Structures, Volume 308, 2023, 116635, ISSN 0263-8223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2022.116635.
    11. Leow, C., Kreider, P.B., Sommacal, S. et al.聽Heat treated聽graphene thin films for reduced void content of interlaminar enhanced CF/PEEK composites. Functional Composite Mater 4, 7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42252-023-00044-0
    12. Donough, M. J., Shafaq, St John, N. A., Philips, A. W., & Gangadhara聽Prusty, B. (2022). Process modelling of In-situ consolidated thermoplastic composite by automated fibre placement 鈥 A review. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 163.聽doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.107179
    13. Gain, A. K.,聽Oromiehie, E., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2022). Nanomechanical characterisation of CF-PEEK composites manufactured using automated fibre placement (AFP). Composites Communications, 31.聽doi:10.1016/j.coco.2022.101109
    14. Oromiehie, E., Gain, A. K., Donough, M. J., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2022). Fracture toughness assessment of CF-PEEK composites consolidated using hot gas torch assisted automated fibre placement. Composite Structures, 279.聽doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114762
    15. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Zbigniew Stachurski, Raj Das, Paul Compston, Digital image and volume correlation with X-ray micro-computed tomography for deformation and damage characterisation of woven fibre-reinforced composites, Composite Structures, Volume 279, 2022, 114775, ISSN 0263-8223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114775.
    16. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Raj Das, Zbigniew Stachurski, Paul Compston, Characterisation of off-axis tensile behaviour and mesoscale deformation of woven carbon-fibre/PEEK using digital image correlation and X-ray computed tomography, Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 229, 2022, 109448, ISSN 1359-8368, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2021.109448.
    17. Oromiehie聽Ebrahim, Nair Vishnu, Bhattacharyya Dhriti,聽Prusty聽Gangadhara. Effects of ion irradiation on microstructure and mechanical properties of AFP thermoplastic composites, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    18. Islam, F., Donough, M. J.,聽Oromiehie, E., Phillips, A. W., St John, N. A., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2022). Modelling the effect of hot gas torch heating on adjacent tows during automated fibre placement consolidation of thermoplastic composites. Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials. doi:10.1177/08927057221123477
    19. Li, M. Y., Stokes-Griffin, C., Sommacal, S., & Compston, P. (2022). Post-Forming Limits of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Tubular Structures in a Rotary Draw Bending Process. In Key Engineering Materials (Vol. 926, pp. 1379鈥1386). Trans Tech Publications, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-fxk5d9
    20. Mengyuan聽Li, Chris Stokes-Griffin, Silvano Sommacal, Paul Compston, Fibre angle prediction for post-forming of carbon fibre reinforced composite tubular structures, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 158, 2022, 106948, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.106948.
    21. Leow Christopher, Kreider Peter, Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Void reduction in graphene interlayer enhanced carbon fibre thermoplastic composites, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    22. Li聽Mengyuan, Stokes鈥怗riffin Chris, Compston Paul. Comparative Study on Heating Methods in the Post鈥怓orming of Carbon Reinforced Thermoplastic Tubular Structures. Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    23. Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Effects of differential tape and substrate temperatures on CF/PEEK laminates manufactured in an independently controlled dual鈥恖aser tape placement process, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    24. Kreider Peter, Stokes鈥怗riffin Chris, Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Characterisation of graphene鈥恊nhanced carbon鈥恌ibre/PEEK manufactured using spray鈥恉eposition and laser鈥恆ssisted automated tape placement, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    25. Arns, J. Y.,聽Oromiehie, E., Arns, C., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2021). Micro-CT analysis of process-induced defects in composite laminates using AFP. Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 36(13), 1561-1570. doi:10.1080/10426914.2020.1866192
    26. Oromiehie, E., Gain, A. K., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2021). Processing parameter optimisation for automated fibre placement (AFP) manufactured thermoplastic composites. Composite Structures, 272.聽doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114223
    27. Wanigasekara, C.,聽Oromiehie, E., Swain, A.,聽Prusty, B. G., &聽Nguang, S. K. (2021). Machine learning-based inverse predictive model for AFP based thermoplastic composites. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 22.聽doi:10.1016/j.jii.2020.100197
    28. Zhao, C., Donough, M. J.,聽Prusty, B. G., & Xiao, J. (2021). Influences of ply waviness and discontinuity on automated fibre placement manufactured grid stiffeners. Composite Structures, 256.聽doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.113106
    29. S. Sommacal, A.聽Matschinski, K. Drechsler, P. Compston, Characterisation of void and聽fiber聽distribution in 3D printed carbon-fiber/PEEK using X-ray computed tomography, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 149, 2021, 106487, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106487.
    30. Leow, C., Kreider, P.B.,聽Notthoff, C. et al. A graphene film interlayer for enhanced electrical conductivity in a carbon-fibre/PEEK composite. Functional Composite Mater 2, 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42252-020-00015-9
    31. P.B. Kreider, A. Cardew-Hall, S. Sommacal, A. Chadwick, S.聽H眉mbert, S. Nowotny, D. Nisbet, A. Tricoli, P. Compston, The effect of a superhydrophobic coating on moisture absorption and tensile strength of 3D-printed carbon-fibre/polyamide, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 145, 2021, 106380, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106380.
    32. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Raj Das, Zbigniew Stachurski, Paul聽Compston,聽聽Digital聽image correlation with X-ray micro鈥揅omputed Tomography characterisation of woven fibre reinforced composites, ACCM 10, 1-3 Dec 2021, Virtual Congress, ISBN 978-1-925627-59-6
    33. Oromiehie, E., Garbe, U., & Gangadhara聽Prusty, B. (2020). Porosity analysis of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer laminates manufactured using automated fibre placement. Journal of Composite Materials, 54(9), 1217-1231. doi:10.1177/0021998319875491
    34. Mohammad聽Saadatfar, Alex Miles, Silvano Sommacal, Mark聽Knachstedt, Paul Compston. 鈥3D characterisation of carbon fibre reinforced composite microstructure via X-ray computed tomography and fully convolutional network (FCN)鈥. Conference on Industrial Computed Tomography, Wels, Austria (ICT 2020), 4th - 7th February 2020
    35. Wanigasekara, C.,聽Oromiehie, E., Swain, A.,聽Prusty, B. G., &聽Nguang, S. K. (2020). Machine Learning Based Predictive Model for AFP-Based Unidirectional Composite Laminates. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 16(4), 2315-2324. doi:10.1109/TII.2019.2932398
    36. Silvano Sommacal, Alexander聽Matschinski, Klaus Drechsler, Paul Compston: 鈥淐F/PEEK 3D Printed materials microstructure characterisation by X-ray computed tomography鈥. SAMPE Europe Conference 2020, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 30th September - 1st October 2020
    37. Oromiehie, E., Das Chakladar, N., Rajan, G., &聽Prusty, B. G. (2019). Online monitoring and prediction of thermo-mechanics of AFP based thermoplastic composites. Sensors (Switzerland), 19(6). doi:10.3390/s19061310
    38. Oromiehie, E.,聽Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2019). Automated fibre placement based composite structures: Review on the defects, impacts and inspections techniques. Composite Structures, 224.聽doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.110987
    39. C.M. Stokes-Griffin, A.聽Kollmannsberger, P. Compston, K. Drechsler,聽The聽effect of processing temperature on wedge peel strength of CF/PA6 laminates manufactured in a laser tape placement process, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 121, 2019, Pages 84-91, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.02.011.
    40. Wanigasekara, C., Swain, A.,聽Nguang, S. K., & Gangadhara聽Prusty, B. (2019). Neural Network Based Inverse System Identification from Small Data Sets. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.
    41. Oromiehie, E.,聽Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2018). Characterization of process-induced defects in automated聽fiber聽placement manufacturing of composites using聽fiber聽Bragg grating sensors. Structural Health Monitoring, 17(1), 108-117. doi:10.1177/1475921716685935
    42. C.M. Stokes-Griffin, A.聽Kollmannsberger, S.聽Ehard, P. Compston, K. Drechsler, Manufacture of steel鈥揅F/PA6 hybrids in a laser tape placement process: Effect of first-ply placement rate on thermal history and lap shear strength, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 111, 2018, Pages 42-53, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2018.05.007.
    43. Oromiehie, E., Gangadhara聽Prusty, B., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2017). In-situ simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature in automated聽fiber聽placement (AFP) using optical聽fiber聽Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Advanced Manufacturing: Polymer and Composites Science, 3(2), 52-61. doi:10.1080/20550340.2017.1317447
    44. Oromiehie, E.,聽Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2017). The influence of consolidation force on the performance of AFP manufactured laminates. Paper presented at the ICCM International Conferences on Composite Materials.
    45. Oromiehie, E.,聽Prusty, B. G., Rajan, G.,聽Wanigasekara, C., & Swain, A. (2017). Machine learning based process monitoring and characterisation of automated composites. Paper presented at the International SAMPE Technical Conference.
    46. Oromiehie, E.,聽Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2016). In situ process monitoring for automated fibre placement using fibre Bragg grating sensors. Structural Health Monitoring, 15(6), 706-714. doi:10.1177/1475921716658616

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