Automated Defect Analysis using Optical Sensing and Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Fibre Layup Processes in Composite Manufacturing

In modern aircraft, structural lightweight composite components are increasingly<br/>used. To manufacture these components in a costeffective way, robust production systems for the manufacturing of complex fibre composite components are necessary. A rather novel but already established process for fibre material deposition is the Automated Fibre...

Breach detection using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy during spinal screw placement

The intraoperative guidance and placement of spinal screws is a complex procedure. High technical expertise is required fromthe surgeons in order to achieve adequate fixation and ensure patient safety by preventing vascular and neurological injuries. The conventional screw placement techniques face several challenges. Surgeons heavily rely on...

Model Predictive Control of Water Level and Salinity in Coastal Areas

POLDERS are low-lying and artificially drained areas surrounded bywater storage canals. In low-lying delta areas such as theMississippi delta in Louisiana (USA), the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta (Bangladesh), or the Rhine-Meuse delta (The Netherlands), polders experience surface water salinization problem due to saline groundwater exfiltration,...

Optimum Design of Steered Fibre Composite Cylinders with Arbitrary Cross-sections

Automated fibre placement (AFP) machines are able to place simultaneously several bundles of fibres, called tows, on a surface. Using AFP machines, it is also possible to manufacture composite laminates with fibres placed in curvilinear paths. The fibre orientations and stiffness properties of these laminates are spatially varied and hence they...

Fibre Placement Architectures for Improved Damage Tolerance

Composites are notorious for their poor impact behaviour. Delaminations seriously decrease the compressive strength of the material after impact. Laminates made from woven fabric show in general more beneficial impact behaviour than laminates with unidirectional layers, but their manufacturing process is harder to automate. The new fibre...

Optimum lay-up design of variable stiffness composite structures

Advancements in automated fibre-placement (AFP) technology make it possible to take laminate tailoring further than just stacking sequence optimisation; they enable the designer to vary the fibre orientation angle spatially within each ply. Spatial variation of fibre orientation angles results in a variable stiffness (VS) laminate. The work...

Optimal Design of Variable Stiffness Composite Structures using Lamination Parameters

Fiber reinforced composite materials have gained widespread acceptance for a multitude of applications in the aerospace, automotive, maritime and wind-energy industries. Automated fiber placement technologies have developed rapidly over the past two decades, driven primarily by a need to reduce manufacturing costs and improve product consistency...

Realistic Online Resource Management for Partially Reconfigurable Systems

In this dissertation, we focus our research on the problems related to efficient configurable resource management for partially reconfigurable systems. FPGA devices are used to build such systems for various application domains with telecommunication and energy efficient high performance computing being two prominent examples. Dynamic management...

Efficient Runtime Management of Reconfigurable Hardware Resources

Runtime reconfigurable systems built upon devices with partial reconfiguration can provide reduction in overall hardware area, power efficiency, and economic cost in addition to the performance improvements due to better customization. However, the users of such systems have to be able to afford some additional costs compared to hardwired...

Structural Performance of Fiber-Placed, Variable-Stiffness Composite Conical and Cylindrical Shells

The use of fiber-reinforced composites in aerospace structures has increased dramatically over the past decades. The high specific strength and stiffness, the tailorability, and the possibilities to integrate parts and reduce the number of fasteners give composites an advantage over metals. Automation of the production process enables large...

Damage and Failure of Non-Conventional Composite Laminates

For a long time, the application of composite materials was restricted to military aircraft and secondary structures of commercial aircraft. Furthermore, the design possibilities offered by composite laminates were narrowed to quasi-isotropic configurations due to their closer behaviour with monolithic materials, hence with a more predictable...

Thermal and structural performance of tow-placed, variable stiffness panels

The structural response of two variable stiffness composite panels under thermal and mechanical loads are characterized using experiments and analyses. These panels are advanced composite structures where the fiber angle varies continuously within each ply, and are manufactured using an advanced tow placement system. Both variable stiffness...