Isothermal multisection tooling for the automated preforming of carbon fiber composite structures

In order to decrease CO2 emissions caused by individual transport, fibre-reinforced composite materials are used to reduce vehicle weight and thus fuel consumption. Low productivity of current processes complicates the introduction of fibre-reinforced materials to high volume series, where weight reduction would have a large impact. This paper presents an experimental preforming environment designed to take into account diverse process requirements of different binder systems and a new tooling concept. By setting different temperature levels on the moulds in areas where the material is drawn in under the blank holders and inside the cavity, prebonding of the fabric plies can be avoided and quality of the preforms is improved. Moreover, cycle time can be reduced as no heating or cooling of the tools is necessary.