The trend of individualization of demand presents companies with the challenge of preparing their production, on the one hand, for ever more extensive and complicated products, but on the other hand also an increasing variety of products. Handling, as a component of any automated process, plays an essential role in this context, since these non-value-adding process steps must run reliably and quickly, even for workpieces with a large number of variants. The performance of a handling system depends on the adaptation of the gripper’s fingers to the respective workpiece since the fingers are the only components that have direct contact with the workpiece. Since the change of the gripper, as well as the production of new gripper fingers for adaptation, is time-consuming, modular gripper fingers are increasingly coming into focus. An overview of a holistic approach for the selection and dimensioning of gripper fingers from modules is presented in this paper. First, the requirements for gripper fingers are determined and converted into functions. Based on this, the overall structure of gripper fingers is broken down into modules according to technical and functional aspects. In the sense of variant-oriented product design, concepts for modules are developed, which are then designed together with the interfaces between the finger modules and between the finger and gripper. Gripping points with sufficient contact area on workpieces are determined with a gripping point determination. Based on the developed construction kit of gripper fingers for mechatronic parallel grippers and the characteristics of the handling objects as well as the determined gripping points, a method is then described that allows an automated configuration of gripper fingers with integrable sensors for a given number of workpieces.

Additive manufacturing of continuous carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CCFRP) parts enables the production of high-strength parts for aerospace, engineering and other industries. Continuous fibres allow for parts to be reinforced along the load path, multiplying their mechanical properties. However, current additive manufacturing processes for producing CCFRP parts do not optimally meet the requirements of the matrix. With resin- and extrusion-based processes, the time-consuming and costly post-processing required to remove support structures severely limits design freedom, and producing small batches requires increased effort. In contrast, laser sintering has proven to be a promising alternative in an industrial environment, allowing the production of robust parts without support structures in a time-efficient and economical manner for single and small-batch production. Based on a novel laser-sintering machine with the automated integration of continuous fibres, a combination of the advantages of the laser-sintering process and the advantages of continuous fibres is to be achieved. This paper describes an experimental analysis and optimisation of this laser-sintering machine using design of experiments. The processing time for fibre integration could be reduced by a factor of three compared to the initial state.

Abseits der klassischen Leichtbaubranchen ist eine gezielte Gewichtsreduktion aufgrund der Mehrkosten, trotz ihrer großen Potenziale, stark gehemmt. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Konzept für einen systemischen Leichtbauentwicklungsprozess vorgestellt, der es ermöglichen soll, leichtere Produkte effizient zu entwickeln. Der Fokus liegt auf der integrierten Betrachtung der Domänen Produkt, Produktion, Werkstoff und Fügetechnologie.

This work focuses on the development of a numerical mold filling simulation for the rotational molding process. In the rotational molding process, a dry fiber preform is placed in a mold and impregnated with a thermoset matrix under rotation. Additionally, metallic load introduction elements can be inserted into the mold and joined with co-curing or form-fit, resulting in hybrid drive shafts or tie rods. The numerical model can be used to simulate the impregnation of the preform. Based on the resin transfer molding process, an OpenFOAM solver is extended for the rotational molding process. Permeability, kinetic and curing models are selected and adapted to the materials used. A wireless measurement solution with a capacitive sensor is developed to validate the model. Comparisons between measurements and numerically calculated impregnation times to reach the capacitive sensor with the matrix show good quality of the developed model. The average deviation between calculated result and measured mean values in the experiment is 43.8% the maximum deviation is 65.8% . The model can therefore be used to predict the impregnation progress and the curing state.