Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering

SAMPE Journal
November/December 2013, Vol. 49, No. 6
www.sampe.org

Automation & Software Simulation

 Feature Article

Programming and Simulating Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) CNC Machines

B. Hasenjaeger
CGTech, Irvine CA
Email: [email protected]

Abstract
Most users of Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machinery use off-line Numerically
Controlled (NC) programming software supplied by the machine builder. This machine builder-supplied software only works with
their specific machine, forcing manufacturers to implement multiple off-line NC programming products when using multiple
brands or vintages of machines. The more mature CNC metal-cutting industry started the same way, but has now evolved into a
clear separation and cooperation between independent software and machine suppliers. This has freed the end-user company
to select the best machine for the job, while using one universal software application to create NC programs for a variety of
machine brands or vintage. When combined with composite design software tools that specifically take into account AFP manu-
facturing requirements early in the product development cycle, engineering and manufacturing specifications are seamlessly
transferred to the manufacturing process. This paper discusses the implementation and use of machine-independent off-line NC
programming software as it applies to CNC fiber placement machines.

Introduction Overview
Recent advancements in automated composite fabrica- This paper will provide a detailed synopsis of machine-inde-
tion machines, commonly called Automated Fiber Placement pendent off-line NC programming and simulation software as
(AFP), are generating much excitement and with good rea- it applies to CNC fiber placement machines. Case studies will
son. Driven mostly by aerospace, but with technology quickly be used in discussing the implementation and use of this new
transferring to other industries, productive automated com- software.
posite lay-up machinery is becoming a reality. In the same way
cutting speed in centimeters per minute is boasted by manu- Background
factures of high-speed CNC milling machines, manufactures of Software developed for one specific brand of machine is
AFP machines promote composite material application rates only exposed to a small set of users of that machine, and limit-
of kilograms per hour, while often ignoring other significant ed to the requirements of that specific machine. Software that
process complexities that must be addressed in order to lay- narrowly supports one brand, vintage, or model of AFP ma-
up parts quickly. The parallels dont end there however; just chine quickly becomes inapplicable and obsolete. And, soft-
as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manu- ware enhancements are driven by user requirements more
facturing (CAM) software must continually evolve with new than any other factor. Software exposed to a broad range of
machining techniques, the software for programming AFP user experiences with varied processes and machine require-
machines must also evolve to handle advances in technology. ments, followed by listening to those users and synthesizing
Software that narrowly supports one brand, vintage, or model their comments, requirements, and requests, allows software
of AFP machine, quickly becomes inapplicable and obsolete. developers to infer new product features generally applicable
Todays automated composite lay-up machinery and soft- to the industry. Software developers do not invent the new
ware has many similarities with the state of the CNC metal- features, at least not quickly or effectively, if left on their own
cutting industry of the 1950s and 60s. The technology is dif- or with a narrow band of user feedback. All users benefit from
ficult to adopt for all but the largest manufacturers because of a broad implementation.
the high infrastructure costs. The process technology is com- Off-line AFP programming software dedicated to a single
plex and only understood by few. And, software is generally machine brand is simply not economical or realistic for man-
provided by machine manufactures, with different software ufacturers. The costs and risk associated with implementing
required for each machine brand, resulting in limited software multiple off-line NC programming products has a tendency to
implementation and advances1. lock them into a single machine supplier, rather than allow-
One goal of this paper is to help demystify the process of ing them to select the best and most current machine for the
programming automated composite machinery by introduc- job at hand. Universal CAD/CAM software that can be used on
ing the key components of machine independent off-line pro- any CNC metal cutting machine is what allows a manufacturer
gramming software. How hard could it be? the freedom to choose the best production metal-cutting so-
lutions presently available without having to retrain his manu-
Audience facturing engineers with new software each time. The inevi-
Any manufacturer involved with, or having an interest in, table appearance of new AFP machine suppliers makes the old
automated composite machinery. approach unmanageable.
SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013 7
 NC programs can contain partial, full or multiple plies and
the user can analyze material limits prior to program creation.
Paths or tows can be exported as CAD geometry for further
engineering analysis of how the material is actually applied.
Once a ply is filled with material, thickness is added to the
tool surface in preparation for the next layer. As the plies of
each layer are added, the tool surface is thickened to adjust
for the added material, as shown in Figure 2b.
CAD lay-up tool models may be in one of several popular
CAD formats, including: CATIA V5, NX, STEP, or ACIS .sat. Ply
boundary geometry, consisting of 3D closed curves defining
the layers used to construct the composite laminate, include
the following formats: FiberSIM Laminate Export, CATIA V5
Composite Workbench, Boeing MBD (either in CATIA V5 or ex-
ported in XML), and general 3D closed curves from one of the
popular CAD file formats.

AFP Simulation Software

An overview of AFP Simulation Software is presented in Fig-
ure 4. AFP Simulation Software reads CAD models and NC pro-
grams from composite lay-up path-generation applications, as
showing in Figures 4a-c. It then simulates the sequence of NC
programs on a virtual machine referenced in Figure 4d. Mate-
Figure 1. Composite software overview. rial is applied to the lay-up form via NC program instructions in
a virtual CNC simulation environment. NC program tow add/
Project Overview cut commands are read and acted-on to add or drop the simu-
Machine-independent off-line programming and simula- lated applied material. The simulated material applied to the
tion software for automated fiber-placement CNC machines form can be measured and inspected, indicated by Figure 4f,
consists of two components: programming and simulation. A to ensure the NC program follows manufacturing standards
composite software overview is presented in Figure 1, illustrat- and requirements. A report showing simulation results and
ing how one off-line NC programming system can be used for statistical information can be automatically created. All refer-
all AFP machines. The off-line programming system is shown enced and simulation-generated process files are organized by
in Figure 1a, generating the NC programming code for several a Simulation Project file, as evidenced by Figure 4e.
different AFP machines that will all fabricate the same part. The purpose of simulation is to validate the CNC lay-up
Simulation for example machines is shown in Figures 1b-d. process. Machine kinematics and control emulation is user-
configurable. All machine components can be checked for
AFP Programming Software collisions and near-misses. The simulation is run directly from
A composite programming software overview is presented International Organization for Standardization (ISO) NC pro-
in Figure 2. AFP Programming Software reads CAD models of
the lay-up tool and ply boundary information that defines the
laminate or ply stack and creates motion paths. This is illustrat-
ed by Figure 2a. The user then adds material and fills each ply
boundary according to the users engineering requirements
and manufacturing standards. Lay-up motion paths are linked
together in order to form specific lay-up. These two steps are
shown together in Figure 2c, with additional detail provided
in Figure 3. Figure 3a shows ply boundaries and thickness that
has been added to the lay-up tool. Figure 3b is zoomed in to
show the individual tows of fiber tape, using colors to help dif-
ferentiate adjacent courses. And finally, Figure 3c shows the
paths linked together in an NC program sequence. These ply
paths are ready to be post-processed for the target machine.
Multiple path trajectory methods are available to address spe-
cific engineering requirements and part topology, including:
at a specified angle to one or more rosette axes, at specified
angle to single/multiple guide curves, parallel to existing path,
natural or adaptive steering. Sequences are then output as NC
programs for the selected automated lay-up machine, as il-
lustrated in Figure 2d. Figure 2. AFP programming software overview.
8 SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013
 Figure 3. Three screenshots from AFP programming software.

grams and tow material is applied by NC program commands First Customer-initiated Project
(commonly referred to as G-codes). In 2006, Electroimpact was selected to supply Spirit Aero-
At any point during the simulation the user can measure Systems with a multiple-machine AFP lay-up cell for the Boe-
applied material: gap/lap; steering and roller conformance; ing 787 fuselage section 41. The composite lay-up cell fea-
thickness; and more. tures multiple independent machines, each with automatic
head changers, resulting in a high continuous lay-down rate,
Case Studies with no head-service downtime. An Electroimpact AFP head,
Most features incorporated in any commercial software similar to the one now being used at Spirit Aerostructures, is
product have been driven by customer-requested enhance- shown in Figure 5. Electroimpact recognized that CGTech is
ments. As such, it is appropriate to discuss technical advance- very capable to provide machine-independent AFP program-
ment in composite programming and simulation software in ming and simulation software. Since then Electroimpact has
the context of real-world usage of the software. been in a non-exclusive cooperation with CGTech to develop
AFP programming and simulation software. Following multi-
Background ple years of testing and development, this software is being
For over 23 years, CGTech has been constantly improving used by Spirit AeroSystems to program the new Electroimpact
its VERICUT suite of software for metal cutting. But it was in AFP machines being installed3.
2004 that CGTech thrust full speed into the world of compos-
ites, after being contacted by Boeing (a CGTech customer since Project Details
1989) to develop a program for AFP machine simulation for VERICUT Composite Programming (VCP) and VERICUT Com-
787 fabrication. This project progressed in 2005 to include the posite Simulation (VCS) are now being used to program and
development of a programming solution for AFP machines2. simulate the one-piece barrel aircraft fuselage lay-up on an
Electroimpact multi-machine AFP fabrication cell shown in
Figure 6. This screenshot is only for illustration and does not
show the actual fuselage section being manufactured at Spirit
Aerostructures.
The machine is designed to meet future production rate re-
quirements. A significant feature is that this machine uses a
tape-head changer for continuous, high-speed operation. The
machine is currently in production at the customers factory.

Additional Projects
Ever since the first offline AFP programming and simulation
project was published, much interest has been expressed by
AFP machine tool manufacturers and their customers. Several
recent examples follow.
Cincinnati Viper 1200 AFP Machine
The initial project involved simulating a jet aircraft duct
lay-up on a Cincinnati Viper 1200 AFP machine. In 2008, the
customers initial tooling and path strategy created collisions
between the tape-head and tooling.
As one would expect, it is very expensive to repair and re-
design the damaged tape head and tooling. VERICUT off-line
simulation is now used to predict collision and interference
conditions. Collisions can now be detected among and be-
Figure 4. Overview of AFP simulation software. tween head, fixtures, and lay-up tools
SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013 9
 Figure 6. A screenshot from the simulation system being used
to simulate the Electroimpact machines.
Figure 5. An Electroimpact AFP head, similar to the one now
being used at Spirit AeroStructures to create the Boeing 787 of 7 motion axis. The spar is 10 meters long and has a complex
fuselage section 41. (Image courtesy of Electroimpact) contour shape. Initial programming and simulation software
was delivered in Q4 2009 and the machine has been delivered
Initial software delivery took place in December 2008, with and accepted at the customer site.
final software delivery in Q2 2009. The software is currently
in production, with ongoing collaboration and enhancements. Stringer Charge AFP
Another MTorres AFP machine is being used for wing
Electroimpact Gantry Design with Removable Rotisserie stringer charge lay-up. This machine, shown in Figure 9, has
Another project involves programming and simulating a 4 motion axis. VERICUT was additionally enhanced to support
flexible AFP machine for panels, mandrels, and u-channel programming and simulating an ultrasonic knife. The software
structures shown in Figure 7. The project uses an Electroim- and machine are in production now.
pact gantry design with removable rotisserie. There are four
rotaries on the head with a total of eight motion axes. As is Kuka Robot with AFP Head
typical with Electroimpact AFP machines, it employs an au- Recent development of fiber placement using multiple Kuka
tomatic head changer. This project completed mid 2009 with robots involves two active projects. A Kuka robot with an Elec-
successful machine startup at the customers site4. troimpact AFP head is shown in Figure 10. Requirements in-
clude the ability to program and simulate complex curvature
Large U-Channel Horizontal AFP skin panels and fairings. The machine and software are cur-
MTorres announced in 2009 that it has been selected to rently in production.
supply automated fiber placement machines to build the Air-
bus A350 XWB wing front spar. This program marked the first Robot Fokker
time ever that AFP technology was used to manufacture this Fokker Aerostructures has also seen further development of
size of spars. the common industrial robot as an alternative option for the
The MTorres AFP machine, similar to the one shown in Fig- production of structural carbon fiber thermoplastic products.
ure 8, has 6 machine axis and a part-side rotisserie for a total Traditionally assembled by hand before curing, carbon fiber

Figure 7. Current programming and simulation project involv-

ing an Electroimpact gantry design with removable rotisserie. Figure 8. An MTorres AFP machine creating two spars on one tool.
10 SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013
 Integration with Design
CGTech and VISTAGY, the developers of FiberSIM, have
formed a strategic partnership to provide a solution for rapid
design and manufacturing iterations, to optimize the develop-
ment of composite structures produced by AFP machines. This
integration enables designers to take into account AFP manu-
facturing requirements early on, and to seamlessly transfer
composite design information from FiberSIM to VCP software
for creating and validating CNC programs for AFP machines.
By enabling more iterations, with faster and better feedback
later in the development process, firms are better able to
evaluate the tradeoffs between manufacturing complexity
and cost. It also allows engineers to design specifically for the
manufacturing process and take advantage of innovative uses
of composite materials6. Ply boundaries defined in FiberSIM
software, shown in Figure 12a are used during programming,
Figure 9. A simulation of a MTorres AFP machine being used and then transferred for simulation of the final part, as shown
for wing stringer charge lay-up. in Figure 12b.

Conclusions
reinforced plastics (CFRPs) have seen a shift to gantry-type Machine-independent software allows manufacturers to
and large, finely-controlled AFP machines (as evidenced by select the best machine for a specific part, family of parts, or
the preceding case studies). To bring carbon fiber products manufacturing process, without having to introduce a differ-
into the mass market, manufacturers must reproduce results ent piece of software into the engineering process for each
currently being achieved at the high end of the industry much different brand of machine. With machine independent soft-
more affordably. By developing a robotic system, Fokker hopes ware the manufacturer learns and uses one application for
to establish a process featuring key proprietary technologies programming and simulating all his AFP machines, regardless
that can do the same job at a fraction of the cost, and with a of the machine brand. This frees him up to make the best ma-
smaller space penalty. chine choice for his process.
Fokker has been using CGTechs VERICUT product for metal Additionally, the broader the use of a software application,
cutting simulation since 1992 and began looking into its com- the more robust and universal that application becomes. Any
posite products in May 2009. As well as being affordable, software application with a limited or narrow focus tends to
processes carried out by the robot arm have to be highly re- become stagnate, with infrequent updates and only small ad-
peatable in order to be suitable for production, as well as take vances in technology.
advantage of its inherent flexibility. Although the working area Finally, machine tool companies are not commercial soft-
of a robot is limited by its size to several meters, Fokker is syn- ware companies. They are focused on advances in machine
chronizing gangs of robots for fully scalable solutions to the and materials technology, and rightly so. As a result, they tend
lay-up of large parts, as shown in Figure 11. to fall behind the curve on commercial computer hardware
Upon proving the concept with its initial robotic fiber place- and software advances because it is not core to machine tool
ment cell, Fokker commissioned CGTech to work on a larger manufacturing.
cell with multiple tows5. The CNC metal cutting machine industry figured this out
many years ago.

Prognostication
Many manufacturers are struggling to apply current AFP
technology to complex high-curvature part shapes. It often
seems as though the machine the customer has is not de-
signed to meet the necessary requirements. However it also
appears there are new AFP machine technologies being devel-
oped to specifically apply material over complex shapes. In-
novative NC programming approaches are needed to success-
fully and reliably fiber-place complex parts while achieving the
structural requirements of the laminate.
The AFP industry is changing very quickly and there are a
lot of smart and creative people involved in it. The solution to
economically fiber-placing small and complex parts is critical
to the success of AFP technology. The current complex process
Figure 10. A simulation rendering of a Kuka robot with Electro- has to simplify and stabilize so that it is practical for 2nd and 3rd
impact AFP head.
SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013 11
 3. R. DeVlieg, K. Jeffries, P. Vogeli High-Speed Fiber Placement
on Large Complex Structure,s SAE International (2007): 4-5.
4. P. Vogeli, A. Pervis, Electroimpact Inc., Composite Lamina-
tion with a Gantry Style Machine, SAE International (2009).
5. Robots The Affordable Alternative? Aerospace Manu-
facturing, June (2010): 98-99.
6. VISTAGY, CGTech Announce Fiber Placement Partnership
CompositesWorld.com, Gardner Publications, Inc. Sept (2008).
Figure 11. Fokker Aerostructures is synchronizing gangs of ro-
bots for fully scalable solutions to lay-up large parts.

tier suppliers. Until that happens, AFP will remain a boutique

manufacturing method only available to the highest-end prod-
ucts and companies -- not very far away from the research lab.
Commercially available, machine-independent programming
and simulation software is a step in the right direction (away
from the lab), helping to de-mystify the AFP programming pro-
cess and make it more approachable for smaller companies.
References
1. J. Sloan, AFP/ATL Design-to-Manufacture: Bridging the
Gap, High Performance Composites May (2009): 42-46.
2. M. Oakham, Laying Down the Future, Metal Working Pro- Figure 12. Ply boundaries defined in FiberSIM software are
duction, November (2008): 70-71. used during programming and simulation.

Copyright 2013 Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering.

12 SAMPE Journal, Volume 49, No. 6, November/December 2013